Why are breastfeeding rates so low in the UK?

[Olivebrach]

So related to the news about the Royal College of Midwives changing their policy saying mothers have the right to formula feed and the stigma around formula needs to change ect..

I get it that for people that breastfeeding doesnt work out for/isnt easy, they shouldnt be made to feel like a failure. And the 'breast is best' mantra can be upsetting if that is what you desire to do but it doesnt work out.

But considering the breastfeeding rates are so low in the UK (1 in 200 babies are breastfed at the age of 1). The "mantra" and policy atm currently isnt working to up bf rates..? Clearly more people are formula feeding.

So in your opinion..
what should be done to increase breastfeeding?
And why do so few women end up breastfeeding?

AIBU to think the rates need to improve?

I don't understand why there is so much feeling from midwives/ health visitors about nipple shields? Can someone explain?

I really don't see why it's an issue at all as the baby still gets breast milk. I used them
almost entirely the whole time while BF. Started when I had mastitis to make it bearable and found it made the pain so much better I just continued.

I'm about to have my second and have bought a new pair, fully intending to use them!

Genuinely don't see why it matters, could someone explain why midwives don't like them?

"it. But I hate being mid conversation with a mum who whips out her whole boob then waves it around in my face."
You know-maybe sometimes it is OK to dismiss someone's "lived experience" about breastfeeding. Particularly when it is concerned with the comfort and convenience of men...

With my first, tried bf but following traumatic birth he wouldn't latch. This is 22 years ago and pressure to bf wasn't the same.

Currently 28 weeks and planning on trying to bf but due to medical condition sleep deprivation needs to be avoided as much as possible. Midwives agree, sleep for me trumps bf if necessary. My aim is combi feeding but am very nervous about how it'll go.

Friend has just had a baby. Hated bf, the pain, the sole responsibility and lack of sleep so has given it up. I don't think there's enough thought given about the woman's well being. I am afraid of being judged though.

Oh and I should also say the thought of the post natal ward terrifies me so I'd rather be home ASAP.

But I hate being mid conversation with a mum who whips out her whole boob then waves it around in my face. There is a whole army of mums like this where I live.

Could you describe how, exactly, they do that? What they say, what they do, and why they are bothering? Because I literally can't imagine it. Not least because I can't see how I could get my breast near enough my own face to wave it around, much less a stranger's face. Or why I would bother when the only thing I'm really thinking about is getting baby feeding.

Again, most of the problems in this area come from ignorance about BF and a tendency to treat it like an aberrant state.

No, they come from science and the law.

Medicines can’t be licensed for over the counter sale and use without medical advice if their safety has not scientifically tested by actually giving a test group of breastfeeding women the medication and seeing if anything bad happens to their babies. Because that’s highly unethical it doesn’t happen and they safety of drugs for breastfeeding is based on information which isn’t rigorously scientific. That also means risks can’t be given firmly either.

And no, one mother going to the doctor and being told ‘yes it’s fine for you to take’ doesn’t mean every mother is going to be told it’s fine to take. If a very small group of mothers have reported heart problems or asthma in their children after taking it mothers whose other children have those problems or their is other family history or linked issues with the baby itself might be warned that extra caution is needed.

And that all requires a knowledge of the patients medical history beyond that which can be obtained during a quick chat over the counter in a busy pharmacy. Because people are often evasive in that situation.

Frequently because they’ve read stuff on the internet like ‘most OTC drugs are fine for everybody to take during pregnancy and they just won’t give them to you because society is nasty’ and think they don’t need to give it.

BertrandRussell they certainly were last year. My health visitor was thrilled I was still expressing at 10 weeks so she could tick the mixed feeding box for their figures. I'm not sure what the target is though.

Mrsharper
I’m confused as to how a woman can aggressively breast feed. From my point of view, when I was feeding my baby, I lost a lot of the inhibition of having my breasts on show. I certainly didn’t wiggle them around or point them as if they were a gun. But I didn’t buy any breastfeeding tops either. Generally I’d pull them out of the top of a low cut top or go below for a polo neck on both occasions perhaps momentarily exposing my nipple just before my dd latched on.

I can’t imagine women are aggressively doing anything, rather not hiding their breasts but using them as nature intended and not being afraid of showing them in public. Some women do just lose all inhibition. Perhaps you find that distasteful. But still breastfeeding in public is allowed and if a woman wishes to sit in public with her breasts exposed, nothing anyone can do about it.

I think that level of education and resources to a large extent determine breastfeeding success. My social circle are reasonably affluent and breastfeeding rates are high. I think that's because -

1. You have the resources to pay when things don't go well, whether it's getting tongue tie sorted quickly or seeing a lactation consultant.

1. You research the problems and solve them yourself (eg I found thr clare byam cook method better than the nose to nipple NHS method but I had the resources to buy her book, DVD etc)

3 it's easier to breastfeed because all of your social circle do. You meet in naice breastfeeding friendly cafes like bills or le pain quotidien in naice areas where people won't give you dirty looks for breastfeeding.

@LeahJack I understand perfectly why drugs can't be actively licensed for use in breastfeeding women. And women should definitely seek knowledgeable advice if they need to take medication.

But many HCP are not knowledgeable about BF, and many, many women are told they have to wean to take a certain medication when it's really not necessary. We need more knowledgeable people, and we need more acceptance that BF is a normal state in which women need to lead their lives and not one where they have to practice constant abstinence.

I find a lot of official advice about risks envisages Bf tacitly as something you do for a few weeks or months, six tops. So why not be ubercautious and avoid everything even theoretically risky? I've been breastfeeding, pregnant, or both continuously for just over four years now, and expect to be for maybe another two. We need to have a culture that sees breastfeeding as a normal state for women.

Drugs is an awkward one: I gave up non-essential medication when pregnant and bf as there will never be enough evidence of effect either way without some sort of seriously unethical trial. Doctor made it clear that it was an unknown; if I couldn't have given it up I'd have thought seriously about whether I should take the risk.

But many HCP are not knowledgeable about BF, and many, many women are told they have to wean to take a certain medication when it's really not necessary

Yes. We do need more knowledgeable people. A great start would be for people who have anecdata to stop posting them on the internet as fact whilst advising people they know better than HCPs who shouldn’t be trusted. That would probably improve the knowledgable to quack ratio of advice sources a massive amount.

If doctors advise to wean it is based on the data they have available which believe shows an unacceptable level of risk to the baby based on their patients’ medical history, assessment of the child’s health and independent judgement.

Which is probably a better call to trust than a pharmacist from a biased source who hasn’t even seen the feeder or their baby and hasn’t got a clue about their medical history.

*which they believe shows

I remember going to an nct talk on bf with my group. The woman waffled in for a couple of hours about the benefits of bf, but tbh we all knew about the benefits anyway.

What I was ignorant about at the time was the mechanics and difficulties of bf. I just thought that the baby would be put to the breast and would feed, and that would
Be the end of it.

I would have found bf easier if I’d known in advance how hard it could be. The information I needed before birth should have been:-

1. Milk takes time to arrive
2. Latching can be difficult and common problems / solutions
3. Cluster feeding
4. Tips for eatablishing supply
5. Tongue tie
6. Where to obtain support

The list is long and I’m sure others could add to it a plenty, but the upshot is that if I had obtained a realistic expectation of what to expect and how to deal with potential problems, I would have been more likely to succeed.

After a difficult birth, post cs, milk took several days to arrive, only really coming in when I got home after 5 days. To my mind, all I knew was that I had failed already as a parent.

@LeahJack - i have no medical history for a gp to worry about so I was happy to take advise from the BFN pharmacist. I am sure anyone when thinking about their baby would chat to gp if they had anything to consider / disclose..

To the poster who said the "army of mums who aggressively bf" that makes you leave and go the other way - I have noted before in this thread that i wonder if we project our own feelings onto situations. BF is not for you - I support you 100% and it makes you uncomfortable - not your fault. so I wonder if you see these bf woman as aggressive and everywhere like an army beacuse of how you feel towards bf - maybe its not logical - emotions often are not.

I sometimes felt silly for perservering with BF given all my struggles. i continued to do so but also felt a bit out of it when i was sitting chatting to ff mums at a baby group and felt the conversation always turned to why they were so happy they gave up bf. I bet it didnt but it just what sticks in my mind.

Women don’t breastfeed as much because they need to return to work. That’s the main reason. More working mothers now than ever before due to rise in costs.

CurcubitaPepo agree with your list. well summed up. and should be avaible to all

Because its a lie!
😂 Seriously though that stupid video I watched in classes made it seem all loving and bonding and beautiful. Now I clearly know that's not the way. Tell me how it is prepare me give me some truth bombs. Maybe people won't think they're doing something wrong when it's not all flowers and daisies and a baby doing a breast crawl.

Support there is 0 support. They are like robots with there replies. They're used to people saying "he always feeds" but in some cases it's the truth. It's not normal. 2pm to 11am the next day no breaks is not normal! 0 compassion in you, 0 interest. They just keep saying it's the best keep going.

They won't even entertain mixed feeding or encouraging a dummy as a last resort because all baby wants to do is comfort or even tell me about the local sure start breast group with real parents. You turn to friends and family because the midwives aren't helping. Your family tell you to just formula as they can see your spiraling into hell.

Support for formula didn't even exist. When he came off breast I suddenly realised they didn't mention formula once. 0 leaflets in that huge pack of crap.

Literally 0 support.

I actually put down some of my bf success to the complete lack of help :)

It meant i just got on with it. I pretty much left her latched for about a week (i found latching on and off painful, if i left her on there between feeds, no pain!). She cried if i took her off, so i didn’t. Probably worked wonders for establishing and stimulating supply, and preventing mastitis, cracked nipples etc.

I knew nothing about establishing routine and feeding times, so fed at every squeak.

All of which tied me to the sofa (and ER reruns) which meant i probably got more rest, if not actual sleep.

My problems started with visitors. People asking me if she was sleeping through, telling me she should be going x hours between feeds, asking if i had a routine going. Seeing me feeding again and suggesting i give a bottle to give myself a break. Or telling me feeding so much wasn’t right and i probably didn't have enough milk or my milk wasn’t “good enough”. That their baby was sleeping through and i should sleep train, or give water at night and she’d “soon learn it wasn’t waking up for”.

Then the lot who told me i couldn’t feed in public, the ones who expected me to get back to normal and go shopping or days out, treating me as an inconvenience when i had to stop every couple of hours to feed my 4 week old. That i was pandering to the baby, making a rod for my own back and telling me the baby should fit in with my life, and i should give bottles so i could leave her with dh or even just prop the bottle in the pram and continue with whatever activity.

Breastfeeding is tough, and it is all consuming for the first few weeks, then until weaning. But it is really only 6 months of your life.

Ffs my paragraphs have gone.

*@LeahJack - i have no medical history for a gp to worry about so I was happy to take advise from the BFN pharmacist. I am sure anyone when thinking about their baby would chat to gp if they had anything to consider / disclose.. *

You have no medical history at all? Considering you have given birth that is unlikely if not impossible.

You can’t be sure that there isn’t something hidden away in your notes or your child’s, like a lower (but not concerning when not taking drugs) blood level that you don’t even know about which has been identified as a risk factor for a particular drug? And could you tell other mothers which drugs it refers to if you did.

If a mother did miss something out on the phone to the BFN would you confidently be able to tell her exactly what it was and which drugs it should apply to, so you could confidently tell her the HCP was definitely wrong and the BFN was definitely right?

Because unless you do and you can advising people on the internet that they should ignore advice given by an HCP who knows their history and examined them (because they don’t know what they’re doing and society is nasty) is irresponsible. Especially when if you’re advising them that generic advice from a helpline is better.

Which is what the OP did.

Women don’t breastfeed as much because they need to return to work

Other countries with far less maternity leave, pay and rights have far better breastfeeding rates.

That’s not the reason.

Women don’t breastfeed as much because they need to return to work. That’s the main reason. More working mothers now than ever before due to rise in costs

I returned to work at 6m with both of mine. Breastfed one until 11m, the other until 14m.

Again, education. Neither of mine took a bottle. But by 6m they were weaning, so were offered milk in a cup, or a dairy snack at nursery. They fed before and after work, before bed, and one night feed before i went to bed. That’s 4 feeds, which is the same amount as i fed when not at work.

I think there is a panic among bf mums that babies can’t go the day without bf or bottle. Probably tied to the routine most of us get set up. I know i was terrified of messing with the routine! But it can and does work.

@LeahJack all kinds of medicines can be prescribed over the Internet with nothing other than the person's word for their medical history. BFN are giving out advice, any actual medicine would still be prescribed by a GP or similar who would need to be convinced. If there was an important risk factor for a medicine, the pharmacist at BFN would be aware of this and would make it clear to you to check your notes etc before giving advice.