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?

cowparsley stats, please. It's only dangerous if done dangerously (e.g. alcohol, sofa, obesity). The human race co-slept for tens of thousands of years, and all other mammals still do.

I agree that cosleeping really helps breastfeeding.

(Apologies for abbreviating breastfeeding to feeding at the end of my essay of anyone notices that, I meant breastfeeding.)

You looked down on your relatives who had "given up" whilst proclaiming yourself to be "stubborn"( as if a bit of stubbornness is all it takes).

Why oh why do successful breastfeedsers feel the need to speak for all ffers? This isn't about you or your opinion.

cowparsley again, no I didn't, you've missed something in my post. They were cross with me for 'finding it easy'. I didn't find it easy, nor do I know anyone who did.

I actually agree about co sleeping if done safely (I expect there were quite a few cot deaths and asphyxiated children in the caves of early Homo sapiens sapiens) helping bf, because it does make it much easier.

The human race have only recently had the luxuries of duvets,sofas,drink and drugs.

I can imagine that it is just as annoying to have people say ‘you were able to do this because you found it easy’ to you as it is to have them day ‘you didn’t do this because you found it hard’. It’s all part of the same coin and one of the problems with bf and ff is how emotive it feels to be judged either way.

"The human race have only recently had the luxuries of duvets,sofas,drink and drugs."

Well, not sure about drink and drugs-they've been around a while. But in the absence of those risk factors, co sleeping is safe. UNICEF, among others, say so.

bertrand I've been posting here for 6+ years in various guises and I've always found your advice chimes with my experience.

One thing that's always struck me about breastfeeding is that we're expected to learn how to do it at our most tired, sore and stressed out. Ante-natal breastfeeding classes, with info about tongue tie, co-sleeping, cluster feeding, might help some mothers to understand the challenges they might have to overcome once baby arrives.

Ante-natal breastfeeding classes

Yes, yes, yes! I didn't have the strength or energy for a drop in but I would would gone to an arranged session I was booked in at.

I was thinking post-natal! Ignore me!

I went to an ante natal breastfeeding class, but it was useless - having a baby felt too theoretical & I was too busy bricking it about the birth to take it in.

I was lucky to give birth in a mid wife led unit & a midwife suggested I take my top off, strip baby to her nappy & just cuddle down skin to skin. Hospitals are so hot, this was ideal. So even if you don't want to co sleep, just stripping off & snuggling together, smelling, touching, breathing and totally absorbing each other helps so much to take the pressure off and just let it happen.

For the record, some animals struggle to establish feeding and first borns may die, but they usually get it together by the second one - nature is a ruthless teacher. So it is natural to struggle.

Such a tricky subject but very interesting views here. Im not British but European and we have very normalised views of breastfeeeding which is probably why I felt strongly about wanting to BF. I had twins and a csection, they were born prematurely at 34 weeks and we were so lucky to have had a fairly easy BF journey. I BF them for a year and enjoyed it, we really enjoyed our time together when feeding and I had my figure back within a month. But I appreciate that not everyone finds it easy and some babies don’t cooperate and in those cases we are lucky to have an alternative. I should also explain that I had ivf and not being able to get pregnant did make me feel less of a woman so to be able to BF did give me a sense of pride as it was something in that area I was finally good at.

My Mum bottle fed us in the 80’s, she said it was very rare with her peer group to breast feed. As a child when I found out what breast were for I was repulsed as milk was fed in a bottle.

My mother was the same in the 70's. She likened breastfeeding to feeling like a cow and didn't want something feeding off her.

I couldn't have children in the end, but when I was thinking about having them one thing I was adamant about was that I would formula feed because the whole idea of breast feeding was disgusting.

To my shame. I can't say that those ingrained beliefs have changed. Maybe if I'd experienced having a child I might have felt differently, but I didn't and it still disgusts me.

I'm very sorry for my feelings.

@auditqueen as long as you don't directly say that then it's fine if it disgusts you. It used to disgust me, I bought perfect prep before even ttc but ended up breastfeeding dc1 until over a year when he weaned himself off. I'm not sure when my feelings changed, I found it rather gross while attempting it at first but suddenly realised that I loved how happy it made dc and it made me happy to make him happy.

I think the majority of mothers do want to breastfeed but there's very little support afterwards. Midwives don't have enough training in breastfeeding either.

Actually come to think of it, I have never been asked after the 6 week check it I was still bf so where do they get these figures from.
I actually know a few people who bf after 1year

Gummy - no I make sure I keep my opinions on that to myself!

*But outright breastfeeding failure in well nourished, healthy women with full term babies?

Rare.

It still is.*

Supply issues can be due to high BMI, PCOS and GD (all potentially related hormonally). These conditions are increasing so it stands to reason that supply issues may follow suit.

Yes, some women want to feed colostrum and then phase out bf for ff quickly. But many women desperately want to bf and cannot, either through lack of support or a physical reason.

Maybe if there was less of a stigma around ff then we could separate these groups more easily and direct support where it will be most effective?

My midwife asked my if I was going to breast feed to which I answered no, end of. I never wanted too.Many of my friends, family members did breast feed and I would never dream of sitting in judgement of them. So why is it ok to judge/stigmatise women who FF?

Wow! Shocked by some of these comments and how uneducated people are.

The debate has become quite polarised, but what I found the hardest to deal with first time around was the implication that even one drop of formula means you have failed (the virgin gut theory and so forth). I've seen someone refer to giving a bottle of formula to a four month old as 'like playing Russian roulette ' when I questioned what the risks could possibly be. I wish there could be some acknowledgement of the fact that the occasional bottle of formula can form part of a successful breastfeeding journey.

Lack of honest information about breastfeeding, I think. Birth plans have given women knowledge about choices available to them during birth; why on earth don't we do the same for feeding? In-depth, broad and frank information about both forms of feeding, the pros and cons, potential issues, where to turn for help; so that it's not a surprise that baby cluster feeds, or can't latch on, etc etc, in the same way that inducing the birth or offering an epidural isn't a surprise.

As PP have said, it's a combination of a lot of things; lack of education on how breastfeeding works, why it is better than formula (not being goady), common problems/issues, the realities of what the first week/6 weeks/6 months will be like, not to mention lack of support from all sides and the seriously disturbing over sexualisation of breasts.

I also think that people are unprepared for how parenthood changes your life; I know not everyone will agree with me but it does change your life, your priorities shift (or should) and you don't put yourself first anymore. Socially, this has somehow become unacceptable and mothers who do put baby first are sneered at for being "martyrs" and the mantra "happy mum, happy baby" is used in all circumstances to justify not putting baby's needs above the mother's. I think a big problem with mothers finding breastfeeding/feeding a burden is we've lost our "villages", as in "it takes a village to raise a child". We don't have family and friends close by and able to help out with the housework, cooking/food shop, older children, laundry, comforting the baby etc while the mother gets a rest and a break from it all. Motherhood/parenthood is relentless hard work and drudgery at times and many lack support. Breastfeeding is very time consuming to begin with and a lot of women feel that they can't dedicate the time to it.

The lack of societal support is insidious though, it drip-feeds through continuously and puts more and more women off.

Both Britain and Ireland have dismal rates according to charts in Kellymom, and I too am curious as to why that is. I wouldn’t think it has anything to with maternity leave, bf rates in the US have actually increased to 49 percent at six months (was 35 percent so quite successful) and they have no paid maternity leave.

Possible solutions might be to have more paid lactation consultants for home visits (ime most breastfeeding troubles crop up after mums are home) and creating a breast pumping culture so baby can be easily left with other caregivers. Also, there seems to be a load of confusion over milk/colostrum timing and weight charts that are based on ff babies. Also, I really don’t believe nipple confusion is a thing ......

Pediatricians and even midwives are not necessarily trained to give good bf advice and may actually hinder with outdated or downright incorrect advice. Breast is best is just a slogan .... real solutions take effort that might not be entirely realistic given the strained resources of the NHS.

Of course, some are arguing there is no need to improve rates, which is another debate entirely. However, the benefits of bf are spread population wide, so anecdotal tales that YOUR ff child is at the top of her class and has no allergies etc etc are beyond useless and really should have no place in these discussions.

This thread tho. Devolving into “breastapo” vs “baby poison” which is not helpful.