To think mothers should not be offered a financial incentive to breastfeed their babies?

[brasty]

This is based on a pilot study being reported on the news. I don't think we should be paying new mothers to breast feed. Instead we should be looking at proper support. New mothers used to not be discharged from hospital until breastfeeding was established.

Don't have to buy formula ^^

Would people feel better if breastfeeding mothers in deprived areas were given vouchers for feeding bras, nipple cream and breast pads to encourage them to breastfeed rather than being given cash? Would that make it more similar to the milk voucher scheme for deprived families? Or would people still have a problem with it?

My sons were born in the mid-late 70s. I had little or no support with breastfeeding. They were hungry babies and I just couldn't manage it. They thrived on the bottle - and husband liked it as he could feed them as well. I did what seemed best at the time - but even after all these years I feel guilty that I didn't persist for longer. Reading about incentives and the benefits still opens a wound that's never really healed. Silly, but it's how I feel even 40 or so years on.

I can well understand how mums who are struggling to breast feed could feel 'got at' by this initiative.

But again, it's not about people who can't/ don't want to breastfeed.
It's for people who can, but no one in their family/ friends does it. It's seen as 'disgusting' and mocked.

These attitudes are more common in deprived areas. It gives them a reason to bf and gets some discussion going on the subject, where there would previously been none.

Why are posters on here against a better start for babies in deprived areas and health benefits for their mothers?

It's not all about you.

I would have bf if I could. Instead, dd just lost weight for 9 days while midwives lined up to tell me to bottle feed. I was devastated when I had to do that, felt a failure in every bone of my body.

I think it’s a shit thing and would have knocked me into PND a helluva lot quicker that I fell into it anyway - such a crap woman I couldn’t even feed my baby AND cost dh vast sums in formula AND lost the financial help we’d have had if I were a decent mum. Oh no.

Think again.

Why do we think that these communities will only respond to a monetary incentive? Is it not a bit patronising to think that it's only money that will work where all the encouragement about health benefits etc doesn't? If the current approach works in naice middle class areas where practically everyone at least tries to breastfeed, what is it in particular that means it doesn't in deprived areas or other communities and they have to be bunged a financial incentive?

Considering breastfeeding reduces the risk of many infant illnesses
"Reduces the risk" is a very vague term.

How much difference does it actually make??

So, other women should not be encouraged to breastfeed because it makes some other women feel bad because they couldn't breastfeed. That makes no sense.

@Mountainpika
My mum has said similar - my struggles with breastfeeding and having to give up brought back how she felt about not being able to breastfeed my sister 35 years ago. I didn't even know that she'd been formula fed, as my brother and I were breast fed. It's something that really sticks with people.

accrual perhaps it might help some of them be able to afford to breastfeed. It must be easy to turn to formula if you can't afford nursing bras and pads etc but will get healthy start vouchers to cover the majority of your formula costs. At the moment the financial benefits are stacked in the favour of formula feeding for deprived families.

Mothers should be able to choose how they feed their babies!!!!

Not ‘encouraged or coerced or guilt tripped but simply supported and told the facts that they can assimilate themselves.

If a woman finds breastfeeding disgusting or if she finds it positively wonderful it’s no one else’s business least of all the bloody welfare state.

Such condesention. Butt out of adult women’s choices.

@havingahorridtime But is it financial factors that are putting these women off? Because other posters are saying it's cultural/seen as disgusting/peer pressure.

It really baffles me how so many MNers come across as simultaneously offended by and jealous of women who successful BF. It’s apparently horrible/painful/imprisoning but then anything that promotes it makes women who couldn’t BF feel bad. It can’t be both.

If reading about women in deprived areas getting support to BF bothers you, honestly you need to work out your own feelings in relation to BF and find a way not to project them into others.

@Hatsoffdear would you same the same about all other national health related issues that the govt and NHS get involved in?

But for someone who cannot cope on little to no sleep, or the pain of mastitis (sic) or just fuels its plain dosgisting, will some cash really make a difference? Has anyone asked women in low income communities what incentive or support would work?

@AccrualIntentions the women involved in running the study was saying on the radio this morning that it was a combination of things. The small financial incentives made breastfeeding something that was talked about more amongst everyone in the community. It became somewhat less of an unknown quantity and women felt more able to suggest it. Hence the 6% increase in breastfeeding rates. I'm quite sure that the women involved in the study knew their own minds and made their own choices.

If reading about women in deprived areas getting support to BF bothers you, honestly you need to work out your own feelings in relation to BF and find a way not to project them into others.
How sensitive. Do you not understand that the messaging around BF can make those who wanted to do it but couldn't, for whatever reason, feel fucking awful? It's not a reason to ditch initiatives like this, of course, but already on this thread there are numerous posts to suggest we just didn't try hard enough / couldn't hack it / our babies will be unhealthy and we're more likely to get cancer.

would you same the same about all other national health related issues that the govt and NHS get involved in?
Thing is, does BF really make such a big difference to the health of children??

I ask this genuinely, not to start an argument.

Did anybody ever have a child get ill and a doctor say if you had BF then this would not have happened??

If you can't tell the difference even at two years old between those babies that were BF and those that were FF, then is it really that important on health grounds??

But if breastfeeding means the women can’t go out to work then breastfeeding costs that family money indirectly and possibly more money than buying formula
I know not everyone can take extended maternity leave but I don't know anyone who went back to work in the first 6 weeks.
I know one person who went back at 4 months due to money. I don't know anyone who has stated breastfeeding as their reason for quitting work and the few mothers I know who have done extended breastfeeding (paSt 2 years) work so on not convinced not sure how many women can't go to work die to bf as opposed to because of looking after a tiny new person

@PersianCatLady it makes a difference at a national population level, not at a noticeable individual level.

@Assassinated Fair enough. I'd have been interested to see a comparison with something like more peer-led education/support/encouragement from people from their own communities who have BF. But I can see how that would probably cost the NHS more.

It makes a difference at a national population level, not at a noticeable individual level
Sorry, how do you mean??

PersianCatLady the encouragement in our hospital was about the difference it makes to the baby not the child. So reduced rates of NEC, infection etc. Especially with neonates. I pumped not bf but I was lead to believe it made alto of difference in the first few months. However any GP blaming a mother for their child illness would be quite rightly hauled over the coals

@AccrualIntentions that would also need you to find enough women in those communities who had breastfed and were also able and willing to mentor. That strikes me as very difficult if not impossible when breastfeeding rates are very low to begin with.

Consequently I do wonder of is have managed to pump till 12 months if he would have been less poorly at 10 months when he had issues with his bowel