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?

My DS was a bottle refuser so FF was irrelevant as all I ever did with it was watch DH hold a bottle of it as it dribbled down a screaming baby's chin when he refused to suck. I had to put off going back to work because he wouldn't eat or take bottles at 6 months, even of BM.

It would have been a big help to get more support to express breast milk and help to encourage a bottle refuser. It just feels like support for breast feeding needs to be an ongoing package that supports mothers of newborns, then at growth spurts, then when mum goes back to work, then for mums of older babies if the advice is still to BF to 2 years. Not just here's a leaflet for a hotline, off you go and feed, which is pretty much what I got last time.

Maybe if women weren't constantly bombarded with shite like this from companies which are trying to sell to them, there wouldn't be such a stigma about breastfeeding either.

In countries where the rates are highest, people wouldn't be asked what their 'opinion' is on 'putting them away'. Women just breastfeed whenever and wherever and that's that.

Only my opinion but breast feeding is Hard Work and I dont think people are expecting it to be. Yes, I fed all 3 of my babies up to 9 months, 11 months and 13 months before they went onto cows milk and food (big babies (10.5lbs at birth) and it was 24 years ago when cows milk wasn't such a Big Bad Thing for babies).

BUT it was Very Hard Work. Not only does it mean that only the mother can feed baby so needs to do all the night feeds and day time (unless she is lucky and her babe will take expressed milk in a bottle - mine didn't!) , she can't eat her favourite foods as this affects the milk - colic after mum eats a Chinese for tea!, she can't diet as this makes milk dry up (and no, BF doesn't make you get your shape back more quickly!), she can't exercise as this makes her milk filled breasts sore, she can't wear nice clothes as they get stained from leaking nipples, she always has to think "how will I feed" when dressing for the day! On the plus side - no sterilising bottles, very little risk of gastro problems from said bottles, no need to find somewhere to heat up milk (I fed my eldest whilst sitting in a field watching an eventing competition) and in front of my grandfather - no one realised what I was doing as I was discreet and kept concealed. Dicey moment when baby came off the nipple mid suck and squirted milk but hey ho ,

I found it just about the most rewarding experience of my life - I failed at giving birth properly(2 emergency, 1 planned C S) so was determined to do this bit of 'natural' motherhood. But my sister didn't even try to breastfeed as it made her feel sick to do it.

Everyone is different - and there are pros and cons to both methods of feeding, neither of which is right or wrong !

Both of mine were breastfed to 5 months. I was lucky in that they latched immediately and I produced a lot of milk. The midwives were too busy in the hospital to help me though so I'm fortunate in that my babies did it themselves. I think bf is made out to be some kind of magical time when in reality it isn't and no one tells you this. Yes I had some nice mornings lying on the sofa while baby fed but mostly I was knackered, sore and desperate to have 5 mins to myself. I had huge guilt when I decided to give up at 5 months with my first (although DS had decided for me) but with my second I was counting the days as I promised myself DD would get the same as DS feeding-wise. The NCT and NHS need to make it clear to women what bf entails so they can mentally prepare for it.

'If you want the NHS to be able to help improve BF rates it's going to take ££££. Denmark has new mothers stay in hospital until BF is established (if that's the choice) and most successfully BF. '

This. Instead it's crowded, hot wards with loads of visitors (who are often inconsiderate), no privacy, precious little staff on hand to support.

BFN don't make decisions. The warnings on drugs aren't nonsense, but manufacturers are required to put them there as they cannot possibly have tested whether the drug is safe. It is a very sensible warning.

I haven't said a thing about doctors giving out advice. From my own experience I've had various things prescribed that have patient warnings about not using when breastfeeding. GPs do know what they are doing, and if they don't know from my experience they tend to say so and research it. Some may be cautious and advise against, just in case. Which is where the BFN is useful, for a patient to either ask for a second opinion or discuss with their own GP.

What makes the BFN aggressively pro breastfeeding, by the way?

I don’t think I put my point across very well. I mean almost “aggressively” talking about bfing by constantly pushing across views of breast is best with complete ignorance to those struggling or feeling guilty around them. I have been attending a nearby toddler group for two years and could count on two hands the number of times a conversation with certain members hasn’t ended up becomimg about bfing. It is obviously a big part of their lives and they want to share their views but seem to be ignoring that it’s not relevant/interesting to everyone and can be upsetting. It comes across as aggressive. I am very much into organic eating and providing home cooked food for my child it’s a big part of my daily life- but I don’t talk about this to other parents constantly as I know isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I’d hate to make other parents think I thought they were inadequate because they don’t want to do this. These parents probably view their attitudes as pro bfing, not realising it makes other mums feel inadequate or upset.

I also think when no consideration is given to others feeling uncomfortable with bfing it causes more negative views of it rather than normalising it. I am not saying it is right to feel uncomfortable and I’m not saying a woman should have to hide away. I’m suggesting that for some people the fact that someone is bfing very openly without turning away/covering up might increase their negative views around it as they feel it is being “shoved in their face” (I don’t agree with this but this has been said to me). In my experience showing a little considering, be it by turning away slightly, or sitting down when getting your breast out rather than calling to your child “do you want some booby” or pulling down your top before your child is near might cause those with negative views to feel even more negative. And I think this leads to people sometimes feeling like they’re in opposite camps when it should just be one camp the “pro feeding” camp without extremes on either side.

I plan to try to bf my new baby but am already concerned about comments I will get if I struggle and end up bottle feeding. Or being expected to talk openly about bfing and constantly asked about it (this made me feel really uncomfortable last time). It just doesn’t feel like it should be such a big deal but sometimes neither way feels accepted.

Thats a just a very small part of why I think bfing is low. We definitely need better education on the realities of breast feeding and bottle feeding. I attended two different classes on breast feeding (nct and free one) but neither prepared me for the realities of it. Just as the antenatal classes didn’t prepare me for what it would be like to look after a baby.

How have other countries achieved higher bfing rates?

Ok, first post in MN after lurking for months, but just have to add my experience as an expecting mum on the "pressure" to BF. Here it goes, there has been none whatsoever. Not from midwives, and not from BF mothers. Yes, midwives have asked at antenatal appointments if I'd thought about how I would like to feed my baby. It's only been after saying that I want to BF that they have offered information, which I welcomed.

On the other hand, I have had a lot of pressure from FF mothers I know to not breastfeed. They have been the ones who have asked what my plans were regarding BF or FF - never once have I been asked by a BF mum. The FF mums have been quick to criticise BF, to tell me how horrible it is even though I know for a fact most of them didn't even try it once - heard it from the horse's mouth - and how I'm going to fail terribly at it and have to FF. One was so rude, condescending and negative I just plainly told her that it's my baby, my boobs and none of her bloody business. Actually, the more I am told by meddling people that it won't work out, the more determined I am to make it work just to prove them wrong.

For what I'm seeing in my day to day life, and also on this thread, the ones that come across as having issues on how a mother chooses to feed her baby, and telling others they shouldnt be posting here if their experience is different from their own, are some FF mothers. On the other hand, most BF mothers are just sharing their experiences without judgment.

Yes, there are circumstances where FF is the only option, and thank goodness it's there. But don't criticise those that are able or choosing to do something different to you, and tell them they have no place talking about low breastfeeding rates in the UK because, for whatever reason, you don't want to read about how they were able to do it.

badass

I empathise.

I remember once when my first baby was about 4 months and I was sitting with 3 other mothers who had babies of similar ages and they made me feel shit about my decision to breast feed. They all sort of ganged up on me, sharing their negative views on breast feeding, making sarcastic comments about it and then heaping on me all the reasons they chose to formula feed and why it’s better and I felt so upset.

It felt like they were all laughing at me, like they were part of some ‘in group’ and I wasn’t welcome.

They made me feel embarrassed and ashamed and I hated it. My son is 4 years old now and I have never forgotten how those three women made me feel about myself.

Oh, I forgot the worst piece of advice I received from a midwife when I wanted to know if all night cluster feeding was normal: “Put the baby’s crib on your partner’s side of the bed. Having the baby close to you is like me trying to sleep next to a bar of Dairy Milk”.

I had one friend tell me “i never had you down for a hippy” why she found out i was bf.

I did find many bottle feeders seemed to think i was some sort of martyr, or was trying to prove i was some sort of supermum. Lots of lectures on how bottle feeding is easier, you’re not tying yourself down, bottle fed babies sleep better. Some actually questioned that i was starving my baby, because how did i know they were getting any milk? And what if my milk was basically water? I might be starving my baby with this silly desire to bf. I should give a bottle and then i’d know for sure my baby was being fed “properly”.

I lost count of the times i was told i was “lucky” bf had worked because most people can’t.

I even had a gp at my post natal check accuse me of lying when i said i was ebf. 10 mins of questioning. Are you bf? Yes. How much formula? None. I mean formula top ups as well, how much do you give after a feed? I don’t. So you never give formula? No. Your baby has never has a bottle? No. Nobody else has ever fed your baby? No. Etc etc. As if it were me that was thick and not understanding his question.

Mind you he then went on to tell me to wean at 3 months. Venison apparently was what his son started on.

It’s not unusual for women to choose to ff because they don’t want to bf in public. Simple as that.

Another thing to consider. Did any of you see the recent thread about birth injuries and post-natal care? That was a decent size thread full of women (me included) explaining about their experiences of birth and the lasting impact of those births.

Not all women have traumatic births or birth injuries of course. However for those who do, breastfeeding can be the straw that breaks the camels back, pain-wise. For me, after a 3 day induction with a very traumatic forceps delivery which left both me and baby injured and me missing over 2l of blood breastfeeding was just too much. I had no milk for just over a week bar the odd drop here and there of colostrum which I had to hand express into a syringe and a baby who was so badly bruised on her face she couldn't open her mouth wide enough to latch anyway. This then wasn't helped by impatient and overstretched midwives roughly forcing her head to my breast every five minutes and telling me I need to be more forceful with my poor bashed about baby or she'd never learn. It hurt us both. A lot.

I was desperate to BF. I'd done the NCT course, watch the YouTube videos, read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. If BF was about preparation and willing, I'd have been a pro. But it wasn't to be. By the time I got home and my milk arrived, I'd already given donated breast milk in hospital in a cup and syringe as a last resort before giving a bottle of ready made formula, thereby 'ruining my chances' of BF according to some HCPs. DD was 9lbs and starving because I had nothing for her. I had support workers come in to help at home but nothing would get her latched on.

In the end, I mix fed and pumped for six months. I also ended up with PND. After all that bloody hard work, I was daft enough until recently to feel guilty about it. Because as we all know 'breast is best'. Hmm. Not always. It wasn't best for us, on that occasion and if I'd have insisted on only BF then my DD would have starved.

Second child due soon, and I'm hoping to BF this one. But if I can't, I'm not going to flap about it. There is absolutely fuck all wrong with formula (but nice of one poster to call it 'shit'. You ignorant idiot).

Completely agree with the PP who said that we try to guilt new mums into breastfeeding. It's wrong.

When we were readmitted to the postnatal ward for dehydration I was amazed to find out the next morning that there was actually lots of support, bf counsellors who came round several times a day, a bf workshop in the communal room, pumps and sterilising equipment...

When we'd been admitted the previous evening (for "breastfeeding support") they just left me on my own with a breast pump and a dehydrated baby, by which time I was so stressed my milk wouldn't come at all. It was one of the worst nights of my life and I cried for hours. If someone had come round and said, look there's not much we can do tonight but keep breastfeeding and in the morning there'll be lots of people who can help you that would have been so different. Instead they just gave me formula and a bottle.

Moreover, in the 2 days I had been there post-section I didn't even know there was a communal room and only left my room to use the loo or shower before being sent home.

What would really have helped is if the hospital had given me all the information on what was available before I gave birth. It sometimes feels like the people who work in hospitals forget that we don't necessarily know "the system" or who everyone is etc. A list of the different people you will encounter and how the ward works before you are in the thick of it would be great, so you know who to ask what. They seemed annoyed I pressed the call button at 8 as that was their shift changeover but how would I know?

We met such wonderful people in that week but without knowing how it all worked, I hadn't been able to get the support we needed at the right time.

Blacklister I think that’s a good point. I recently met up with a friend who just had a baby, she was going to b/feed for the 1st few weeks and then switch to f. She’d found it so hard to sit down with her stitches to feed that she ended up going straight to F.

I bf both of mine. Exclusively for 4 and 6 months, then mixed/with solids until just over 10 months.

I'm English but live in another European country. I have no idea about the official stats here but in my circle of friends there was about a fifty-fifty split of ff and bf, although usually not more than 3 months.

The only mums I knew who did bf longterm I met at La leche league, and to be honest I would have given up within a month if it hadn't been for them.

With DS1 I found the conflicting advice (and the manhandling of my boobs!) from midwives very hard to deal with in my teary post-partum fog. The support and guidance I got from LLL, even though it was just over the phone initially, was so important for me at that time, and I will be forever grateful.

I think all new mums deserve lots of support whatever choice they make, and should never be made to feel inadequate or whatever.

Having said that, the sheer exhaustion of bf which makes for some near sleepless nights at times early on coupled with the fact that I obviously had gluttons because the baby fat just fell off me - the only time in my adult life I was cellulite-free 🤣 - meant that I was utterly, utterly drained and on zombie mode until my body adapted.

I honestly don't know how we can be expected to just know what to do, and without support I am not surprised so many women either give up and feel bad for 'failing' or don't try because of all the horror stories.

As well as LLL I also had a very understanding gp who signed me off for an extra two weeks of maternity leave as I wasn't ready to go to back work. I also had a lovely pro-bf childminder who was happy to give DS my expressed milk, and I lived close enough to work to be able to come home and express during my lunch breaks.
So although I didn't have family close by, I did have excellent support.

I should say that it was a friend from back home that I rang in tears for advice who told me about LLL. I had never heard of them before and none of the midwives mentioned them to me.

With DS2 he latched on pretty much as soon as the midwife gave him to me and my body already new what to do, and I knew what to expect so eveything was fine.

I would encourage anyone who is thinking about bf, or perhaps struggling with it, to get in touch with their local LLL group. I'm assuming it still exists as my last contact with them was 12 years ago now.

Sending all mums 💐🍰 and 🍷because we're all bloody brilliant, whatever we feed our babies...

she was going to b/feed for the 1st few weeks and then switch to f

This is something i hear a lot. A plan to bf for the first few weeks then switch to ff.

Why? Is it because of the peception that ff is easier? Because after a few weeks they want to be out and about and don’t want to bf in public? Is it to get the breast is best brigade off their backs- at least they can say they did bf, or that they tried.

Surely the first few weeks are the hardest, and once you’ve cracked that and got bf established- just as it gets easier why switch?

Interested to hear the logic. Maybe that is something that could be addressed to stop the post 6-week drop in bf rates?

queen it's terrible they made you feel so bad for just feeding your baby that you remember it to this day

They behaved like bullies. And then had to justify their choice after making you feel alienated. Obviously they had a chip on their shoulder and you got the brunt of it just by being there doing your own thing. Hope you didn't have to be around them much after that.

Everyone can choose to feed their babies how the deem best, but bullying or bringing another person down because their choice, for whatever reason, makes you uncomfortable is shocking.

There is still a lot of stigma about breastfeeding. If you feed the opposite way to your own mother for example that can make things difficult just because you end up hearing a lot of their own experience.
Breastfeeding is hard and no one tells you just how hard it can be.
It can be very painful if you have a problem and pain puts people off naturally even after the problem has been resolved.
Breastfeeding and the inability to express or inability of baby taking a bottle can mean an even more drastic change to your life and work.
I've stuck with it with all my might, it takes a lot of determination despite having problems.
It's a minefield for sure.

It sometimes feels like the people who work in hospitals forget that we don't necessarily know "the system" or who everyone is etc.

This is true, and I felt it at my outpatient appointments too. It often seems like HCPs assume you know exactly how the hospital works when in fact it's a hugely complex and intimidating environment. I'd often get instructions like "leave this form here, do a sample and drop it there, and make sure you speak to this person on your way out", and they'd look vaguely surprised and annoyed when I'd ask "sorry, what kind of sample, where exactly, how do I find that person".

Nobody answered the buzzer at all on my first night on postnatal with DS1. I had to get up every time and go to the station to get help. Fortunately I was physically fine, if tired, and made enough of a nuisance of myself to cobble together a reasonable amount of support which I was able to turn into EBF once we got home.

A basic info sheet when you get to the ward with mealtimes, what to do if X, resources etc would be something, and it wouldn't have to be expensive.

Badass I have to agree, the only pressure I felt about my decision to breastfeed both of my children was from people who formula fed.

I fed my first for 11 months and it was a total nightmare because he suffered from reflux. Sleepless nights, constant crying, not much weight gain and yet we persevered. There was no support from my midwives or health visitors then but I lived in a different area. Constantly being told by women who we’re formula feeding that I should just give up and it was cruel of me to carry on and that no one wants to see someone breast feeding anyway, really didn’t help with my state of mind.

Currently 7 weeks in with my second and it’s an absolute doddle. Such an easy feeder and she’s absolutely thriving, I feed her wherever and whenever and we are both happy and healthy. In my new area there has been so much support by midwives and health visitors who only care that we are both happy and well and don’t care how baby is fed. I fully anticipated it being as difficult this time around but it isn’t so it can also be down to individual babies.

@Grandmaswagsbag I think it's a very valid reason we have some lower rates. It seems to me that we have more and more women suffering from birth injuries (I don't know why) than we did 20 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just talked about more now, I don't know.

It's uncomfy enough (I'm sure, having never experienced it) recovering from a nice straightforward birth. Compare that to some sections, or a difficult natural births and it's no surprise that we have women saying 'no more'.

I can still recall (very stupidly) refusing to do my fragmin injections when I got home from hospital. These are injections given when you've been immobile or have surgery to prevent blood clots. I was so broken by the whole experience that I literally couldn't hack anything else.

Chuck in tow curling pain in your nipples, a screaming, starving baby, etc etc on top of all that and it's no wonder that new mums opt to bottle feed like I did.

I agree with DappledThings. Its a cultural thing. I BFed because my mum did, my friends ALL did and because I could. No judgment on anyone that does it differently!

@reallyanotherone I know I find it odd, as that would be the hardest part! In this ladies case it was because she felt uncomfortable at the idea of feeding out and about, which is a massive shame. I guess some people think they should give the colostrum even if they don’t want to b/f and can move onto f feeling they’ve given the best start?

Woow overwhelmed with the response.

Thank you so much to everyone who has shared their personal experiences.

Will take me a while to read through all this haha.

But interested in the comment about folic acid and tounge tie! Will def look thay up

I keep forgetting stuff... my first baby had to have a hernia operation when he was 6 months old and this is some of what I was asked/told:

“He needs his last bottle 4 hours before surgery, nothing after that”
“It’s a good idea to bring a bottle to recovery”
“Do you have a bottle?”

No one asked how he was fed, they just assumed he was formula fed. As someone else has pointed out, formula has become the norm over bf. When I breastfed in hospital they always pulled the curtains round. I wouldn’t have minded if they’d asked if I wanted privacy, but again, they just assumed I should hide away to feed my little baby who was in pain.