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?

1. Not enough info provided on how to do it. Completely agree with pp, banging on about health benefits (often greatly exaggerated) just makes mums feel worse when they fail, but doesn’t help them not to fail. I had one golden twenty min from an NHS antenatal class where she really properly explained, and demonstrated with props, correct positioning and latch. Many of my friends never got this info either on NCT or NHS. And things like cluster feeding I only knew because my SIL went through it before me, or I’d have freaked out and given formula thinking he was not getting enough.

1. Lack of social support; in many cultures the mum &baby spend the first 6 weeks being looked after by the mum’s relatives. This allows mum to recover physically, thus maximising chances of milk production.

1. Too many generations used to bottle, this many of my friends were told by their parents to give a bottle because they’re feeding too often, must be still hungry etc. I was told breast milk alone would not be enough for bubba after 3 months. So really there is a total lack of reliable info. Mothers have the cards stacked against them in that respect.

@swingofthings its about risks. of course most kids turn out fine on formula. but there is a risk, and while its not life threatening, its not worth taking if you don’t have very good reasons ( i don’t know your reasons, they might have been good or not, not my call).
The main rproblem in the uk is the shit support. hiw come that breastfeeding rates are waaaay higher in countries with 2 days leave for dad and 16 weeks for mum, compared to the uk where mums get 1 year off???
(public heath and infant nutrition are 2 very different fields - public health trains you to see the group, infant nutrition to see the individual. most people in infant nutrition research are infant nutritionist, so their reasoning is different)

And to a previous poster who mentioned ruined boobs you need to educate your self, pregnancy does that - not breastfeeding

I am pretty sure that I have never had cracked, bleeding nipples at any time apart from breastfeeding, so I don't see how it is pregnancy that ruins nipples.

People normally mean that their breasts have changed size/shape as a result of breastfeeding, when in fact it is a result of pregnancy and would have happened anyway. I don't think they mean nipple damage.

That's the thing Yurs, the risks on an individual basis are very minimal. Life is full of risk. You have a much higher chance of increasing gvyourcrisk of breast cancer by being overweight. Does this stop people watching what they eat? Or drinking alcohol even moderately. That's because people want to enjoy their drink.

I didn't like the idea of breastfeeding at all. Doing so would have affected my enjoyment of being a new mum.

You could have thrown all the support my way, it would have made no difference. The reality is that many women feel like I did but don't dare say it because they get flamed and accused of selfishness so instead said they wanted to and tried but couldn't do it because of lack of support.

@swingofthings GOOD support respects your wishes and works with you. there are benefits in pitfalls in breast and bottlefeeding, neither bottle pushing nor guilting into breastfeeding is good support.

I think the return to work is a red herring, USA has higher BF rates and they return to work sooner than we do in average. Difference being over there they have better BF support and more people express.
I was lucky that I had a lot of support to BF in difficult circumstances for both my DD's. (1st premature on NICU, 2nd congenital heart defects) They both had formula at times, but we're predominantly BF. In contrast my SIL had 2 "normal" deliveries and babies and got no support to BF and ended up switching to formula very quickly.
"Normal" BF baby behaviour is seen as a "problem" so people switch over concerns baby isn't getting enough.
Mostly though, I think it's the lack of support and an all nothing attitude to breastfeeding.

I will be honest here as it's something I've thought privately but never expressed.

I've lived in the UK, US, and a few countries in Asia.

In my opinion - alcohol and tobacco use in the UK contribute to poor BF rates. Many women want to go back to their normal habits post-pregnancy and the thought of continuing to cut back on fags and booze is a deterrent to BF for more than a few weeks.

I'll put my helmet on for the attacks but there you go.

Well you could say that about any parenting risk Yura- letting kids eat red meat, sugar, co-sleeping,screentime, lack of daily exercise, not consuming 5/10 a day, not eating together......

Frankly I think it’s a combination of the excellent alternatives we have, lack of support, UK mothers refusing to be brow beaten and the epic failure that is the breast is best guilt mongering campaign.

Ridiculous comments like you bond better, it’s only hard for two weeks, your baby will be obese, your baby will be less clever..... just discredit the argument for breastfeeding. Uk mothers aren’t dumb, many just don’t want to bf or have a huge struggle,make an informed choice and choose a good safe alternative.

FYI intelligence is pretty much decided by maternal education and genes and creating an obese child involves providing years of shite food and lack of exercise. If you follow the procedures given and don’t over feed beyond recommendations which isn’t hard to do formula will no more cause obesity than bfing. You do get obese children who have been breast fed. It’s a parenting mindset. If you’re prone to over feeding, providing unhealthy foods( of which formula isn’t) and steer away from an active lifestyle your child is more likely to be obese.

And please don’t belittle the trauma that is having a baby who doesn’t thrive on bm and has needed formula to gain weight. Once you’ve had skin hanging off a starving baby and a trip to Scbu you value our ability to provide safe, clean formula in this country.

I think the return to work is a red herring, USA has higher BF rates and they return to work sooner than we do in average. Difference being over there they have better BF support and more people express.

I frequent both UK and US mother's groups and it's amazing how different the ability to express milk is. You'd think that pumps don't work on British breasts.

It had a detrimental effect on my mental health, so I stopped. I remained sane, became happy. I have no regrets about my choice, my child is happy.

What other women choose is up to them.

This is embarrassing but I didn't know that you could feed a baby via breast until I was 12 or 13. Well I did but I meant I didn't know it was still 'the done thing I have much younger brother and sister and my mum didn't try and didn't want to try. I asked her why and she said no one breast feeds anymore. Ofcourse I believed her. Saying that I breastfed all of mine for 18 months plus each. And for me felt way easier than a bottle. I could roll over and feed. But dh works 40 plus hours a week so it is just me to feed. It works for us. As long as baby is fed it doesn't matter really does it

Woman need to be told the truth about it. Yes it's natural but I was told it was the easiest thing in the world. I also wasn't told how painful it could be. So guess how I felt when I was trying to feed dd and couldn't! I feel as though new mums are set up to fail. There needs to be more support for us that want to but have countless problems. Unfortunately dd had tongue tie which I believe is checked for at birth now? She ended up back in hospital
, severely dehydrated, failure to thrive and I very nearly walked out and left her there. I felt under that much pressure from healthcare staff. Luckily one midwife took one look at me and said I'd done a great job let's get your daughter fed which is the most important thing. That was the first time any staff had said anything like that to me and I will always remember her for saying that. I felt like the worst mother in the world. Ds took to breast straight away but due to complications after labour I had, I was unable to continue, I was physically/mentally depleted of energy. It was a magical 24 hours though.
Stress hormones override the mothers milk releasing hormones- I wish I'd known that!

Indeed Yura, but bottlefeeding doesn't require much support better to put the resources into supporting those who do want to breastfeed but struggle to do. Sadly mothers who don't want to breastfeed are usually judged, certainly by professional and support to them is seen as information and guilt to make them change their mind anyway.

All what flanbelsheet has written is what made me make my choice without guilt.

I too see the hypocrisy of some parents who indeed boast that they breastfed their kids until they were two but then put sugar coated drinks in their lunch box everyday!

I too see the hypocrisy of some parents who indeed boast that they breastfed their kids until they were two but then put sugar coated drinks in their lunch box everyday!

I highly doubt you know more than one or two people like this.

Breastfeeding is super important, but as a lot of people conflate anecdote with evidence, it can be difficult to see that not breastfeeding does have a big impact on the health of a nation.

Combine this with lack of support (in lots of areas, but not all) and the inconvenience of breastfeeding and it is pretty easy to see why we have such low bf rates.

What should be done? Well, sadly, in my opinion, not much can be done while the medical community are taking such a wishy washy approach to the discussion. There are very few other things where such a ridiculous approach is taken by medical professionals in order not to offend and this is right, medicine should be strictly evidence based and the evidence is very clear in this case.

I'm fine with medical professionals 'pressuring' women to breastfeed, in the same way that I'm fine with them pressuring people about all kinds of things that are demonstrably good for their/their children's health.

@F1annelsheets please read my post. formula is a lifesaver for many. there should be no guilt involved. BUT there should be good information and support - yes, also for bottle feeding (if you worked in infant nutrition you know that bottle feeding mums need support too - i’ve seen stuff you won’t believe is possible. and for suplemeting - why do midwifes etc not support supplemetung with cup and syringe? not difficult at all (and routinely done in europe), rather than do formula or breast? every mum- baby pair will find their own way, but need support to find THEIR way

@brookshelley bf mothers are allowed to drink alcohol. The amount of alcohol, like many other substances such as vitamin D, that passes through breast milk is miniscule. This means unless you are so drunk you are seeing two babies you can safely breast feed after drinking alcohol.

The reasons in the UK mothers don't bf is due to a mixture of cultural as well as economic factors. This is illustrated by the fact that women in Tower Hamlets, an area of London with lots of deprivation but with a high number of BAME people, have much higher breast feeding rates than women in Hull, which has a similar amount of deprivation but far less BAME people.

@AmyDowdensLeftLeftShoe

I know you can drink moderately and BF. I'm talking about non-moderate drinking. Britain doesn't have a healthy relationship with alcohol. You can Google and find that its alcohol consumption per capita exceeds the US for example. There are mothers who drink until they see two babies.

I frequent both UK and US mother's groups and it's amazing how different the ability to express milk is. You'd think that pumps don't work on British breasts.

I have wondered if they have better pumps or more realistic expectations.

I got very tired of hearing how little I was getting out it was demoralising and from less supportive family members another stick to beat me with over bf.

Supply built up over time and we had loads frozen in the end - I did it less with second and with third didn't bother.

why do midwifes etc not support supplemetung with cup and syringe?

We were told to do this when I had supply issue with first but never shown or offered support with it - someone sitting with us instead of mention it in passing as they walked out the door.

There was also a stream of visitors – with pfb sell objecting to me bf in front of them and wanting me to disappear in ,my house to do it – then complaining how much baby was being fed. That soon stopped as I was fed up of leaving room. Plus the expectation I would be playing host and doing house work – it often took the man of the couple to say hang on you were still in hospital at this point getting rest and support.

Though my experience of post natal wards wasn't pleasant or relaxing - and most mothers I i knew said similar couldn’t wait to get out of them – very different to previous generations experiences.

@bigKiteFlying i think its different expectancies. pumps are the same. post natal wards are hell wherever you go as well in my experience. but expectations and support vary a lot!

@Yura - I did wonder.

I know I was only person who bought several pumps and read reviews hoping to find a pump that got loads of milk out.

I did read some US Bf books that mentioned pumping but even they never mentioned the small amounts you end up with to start with and the huge amount of time it takes.

If the breastfeeding rates are taking into account how many children are still being breastfed at the age of 1 the rates are always going to be low.

Breastfeeding is the most natural thing, but not the lives we live...Most woman have to return to work and understandably once you return to work you do not want to make your life more difficult. When I breastfed my DD, she was for around 40 minutes on the breast feeding, I wouldn't like to have to do this before I had to head of for work (plus having a shower, getting dressed, getting baby ready for the childminder/nursery).

I understand breastfeeding being encouraged and women helped to do it, but it is ridiculous to deny the reality that some mums are going to FF (for whatever reasons). A friend of mine had a baby 4 months ago and she had to stay at the hospital for a few days, she had no support whatsoever to FF and they wouldn't even tell her the amount of milk the baby should be having. For me, that's putting babies at risk for the sake of encouraging breastfeeding. She was truly distressed about this lack of support and she was feeling really low for many weeks after about the whole breastfeeding problem, she felt extremely pressured and useless, she was actually quite depressed, she burst into tears first time I visited and everything was about not being able to breastfeed. That's putting her mental health at risk too. I don't think it is quite right.

Well... I'm hoping to breastfeed DC3 but that's going to be hard considering I might have to be at work after 3/4 months... I tried pumping with DC2 (never latched always express fed) and ultimately ended up too exhausted to deal with DC1 so I think support has a lot to do with it...

I'm fine with medical professionals 'pressuring' women to breastfeed, in the same way that I'm fine with them pressuring people about all kinds of things that are demonstrably good for their/their children's health

But it is not the same. It is not the same pressuring parents to give children their 5 a day, that has no impact in your life as a parent, instead of giving a bag of crisps as a snack, you give them an apple, easy to do. BF vs FF not so easy, as BF has an extreme impact in the baby's mum life: sleepless nights not being able to share the workload with anyone else, sore breasts, maybe infections, not being able to do much basically and having to sit around nearly all day. This all can lead to be in a low mood and not enjoying the experience apart from being incredibly tired, it can affect mental health. It has an EXTREME effect on her life, so not comparable.

Yes, health professionals should try to encourage breastfeeding and help mums to breastfeed, but I believe any new mum should have support.