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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why are breastfeeding rates so low in the UK?

771 replies

Olivebrach · 12/06/2018 19:57

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?

OP posts:
QueenAravisOfArchenland · 14/06/2018 13:31

I’ve not 100% on America’s welfare system but I’ve heard it’s not great so it could be the same there the parents just cannot afford to FF.

Formula is covered by food stamps/benefits in America.

Want2bSupermum · 14/06/2018 14:28

I've heard it all! The WIC program here in the US is a great idea. Families who qualify get extra healthy food and baby items including formula at no cost.

PineapplePower · 14/06/2018 14:38

Whoa it looks like WIC is also (successfully) promoting breastfeeding among their cohort which is huge; always thought they didn’t have the time and resources for that. I really thought it was more of a middle-class (in the US sense of the term) thing. Very nice!

Semster · 14/06/2018 14:47

FWIW, the US does also give an equivalent of Child Benefit to parents - $1,000 per child per year up to three children.

Want2bSupermum · 14/06/2018 16:13

Also the formula companies are required to have breastfeeding help via their helpline. If you are having problems you can call and get help at no cost.

Allegorical · 14/06/2018 16:17

Well if you breastfeed your baby up to 11 months they aren’t going to figure in that statistic but I would say that that that is pretty good going.
Most people stop when they start weaning or return to work which is generally before the one year mark.

Slipp3rs · 14/06/2018 16:33

I wonder why there isn’t health statistics on adults.

When an adult is diagnosed with something - an example is Diabetes, why aren’t they asked if there were bf?

Or where are the statistics on how many children with meningitis were bf?

Surely if we had actual statistics on how it affects our health in later life it would show the actual benefits of bf.

If it showed that bf babies as adults weren’t as ill then surely that would Encourge more people to bf and therefore save the NHS money in the long run.

Until actual proof of the long term benefits I can’t really see why our bf rates will go up.

I’ve bf all my 4 until a year and I’ve never been asked so how are any of these statistics found?

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 16:39

Because there are plenty of other factors that cause health problems in adults. It's rubbish science to link diabetes in an adult back to formula feeding when they were babies.

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 16:40

Rates are low because support is shit not because people don't know the benefits.

Slipp3rs · 14/06/2018 16:56

Its not rubbish and your comment has proved the point of people not being educated in the benefits of bf.

You are less likely to get diabetes in adulthood if you were bf - Fact!

It was on the info sheet I was given from the NHS last month when I had a baby.

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 17:00

So my overweight mate with diabetes who was bf is a figment of my imagination. As is his shit diet and smoking.

Semster · 14/06/2018 17:06

You are less likely to get diabetes in adulthood if you were bf - Fact!

But there are clearly also other factors at play - hence diabetes rates being higher in the US despite breastfeeding rates also being higher.

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 17:07

Rubbish science means a scientific results that are flawed because there are too many variables to reach a solid conclusion. Like some diabetes being caused by shit diets and smoking in adult hood.

minifingerz · 14/06/2018 17:15

“It's rubbish science to link diabetes in an adult back to formula feeding when they were babies“

This is from NHS Choices. Apparently it’s all based on ‘rubbish science’. 🤨

If you do honestly think that the epidemiologists and researchers who are responsible for writing this are either stupid or criminal or both, for publishing lies you should go to your MP because it would be a scandal of huge proportions.

“Breastfeeding reduces your baby's risk of:
infections, with fewer visits to hospital as a result
diarrhoea and vomiting, with fewer visits to hospital as a result
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
childhood leukaemia
type 2 diabetes
obesity
cardiovascular disease in adulthood

Breastfeeding lowers your risk of:
breast cancer
ovarian cancer
osteoporosis (weak bones)
cardiovascular disease
obesity”

PineapplePower · 14/06/2018 17:18

So my overweight mate with diabetes who was bf is a figment of my imagination. As is his shit diet and smoking

Absolutely meaningless. Why did you even bring this up? Benefits are spread over a population and not to individuals.

I mean, my bf DH has both allergies and asthma, but that doesn’t disprove the well-researched fact that bf reduces the risk of both!

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 17:18

Lectures don't help women in distress struggling to feed their babies but with no support for bf and sneers and judgement if they ff.
Fix that and the rates will go up.

HazelBite · 14/06/2018 17:28

My Mum showed my older sister how to breastfeed, my sister showed me.
There is no help in post natal wards.
I would question the statistics as many women give up breastfeeding when their infants get a few teeth which is usually before a year old.
I gave up breastfeeding Ds1 at 11 months and my other 3 dcs a lot earlier.

CowParsley2 · 14/06/2018 17:40

Well the vast maj of babies are going to enjoy these benefits then as the vast maj are bf to begin with.

These stats that get twisted and misrepresented really aren't enough of a benefit to make any struggling unsupported,miserable mother continue.

Many involve tiny numbers. Take SIDS. Very few babies die from it and there are several things that increase risk massively e.g. Smoking and co- sleeping. If you don't smoke or overheat your baby,lay it on its back,give it a dummy,don't co-sleep etc that teeny tiny risk is reduced even further and makes the benefits of breast feeding longer than many manage negligible. But you know that Mini as it has been explained several times. Still you try to scaremonger.

Again with diabetes. If you lead a healthy lifestyle that doesn't contain vast quantities of sugar,junk and little exercise your chances of diabetes is tiny. An obese breast fed teen is far more likely to get diabetes than a ff teen with a reasonable BMI.

Re gastro- good bottle prep cuts this massively...........

When are you going to learn? Ffers aren't daft. Stat twisting and scaremongering does zilch as regards raising bfing rates.Hmm

AssassinatedBeauty · 14/06/2018 17:50

So would you agree that the NHS should stop mentioning the benefits/reduced risks of breastfeeding altogether because they are so flawed and minimal? Better to say that in a developed country like the UK the differences are minimal, and formula has a lot less risk of complications for the mother.

lostinsunshine · 14/06/2018 17:53

I would agree that the NHS should better spend its money in feeding support and tell midwives that lectures with a cat's bum face isn't working.

CowParsley2 · 14/06/2018 18:01

I'd mention them but leave it at that. Treat it the same as all the other parenting ideals- 10 a day,adequate sleep,adequate exercise,reduced screentime,reduced processed meat,good teethcare and daily reading. I don't think any of these things trump each other.

wheezing · 14/06/2018 20:40

I know the area I live in and people I know must not be representative but very few people I know didn’t feed until one at least. So I find the 1 in 200 very hard to comprehend. Even if in my circle breastfeeding rates are 10x higher than normal, most still should have stopped by a year.
No one asked me if I was breastfeeding or wrote it down anywhere after a few weeks.

LeahJack · 15/06/2018 00:19

I wonder why there isn’t health statistics on adults.

When an adult is diagnosed with something - an example is Diabetes, why aren’t they asked if there were bf?

There are figures. They just don’t ask every adult because it’s expensive and unnecessary. They can take the info from a sample group and extrapolate it to the whole population.

You are less likely to get diabetes in adulthood if you were bf - Fact!

But they can’t actually definitively say it is caused by breastfeeding even if they can say for a bf child the risk is lower.

There are other big factors which come into play. In developed countries mothers who breastfeed may be more likely to be concerned about their child’s diet and what they are eating and bring them up with a healthy lifestyle. They may well be better off with more access to gardens, open spaces and sports activities for their children plus the money and resources to produce a healthy diet.

They know the risk is lower, but they can’t definitively say it’s actually breastfeeding which causes it.