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?

It's very trendy at the moment to act like having a baby doesnt have much of an effect on you or your lifestyle and being tethered to a feeding baby for hours a day while being dependent on others to do your laundry and prepare food for you doesn't fit in with that.

'Bf has an extreme high impact in the baby's mum life' - yes a really good one! not having to faff around with formula in the middle of the night, helping to contract everything back into place after birth, gorgeous lovely bonding times with baby - they can all lead to high mood. Why always look on the negative side of things. Bf can be amazing.

both my children would not latch on. With DC1 there wasn’t any help at all and in the end I gave her a bottle as she was hungry. After that I descended into terrible depression pretty fast.
With DC2 there was help. The healthcare assistant at The hospital would come
And help me get the baby to the breast and
Try different positions but she wouldn’t latch. Midwife gave off the impression that she was pissed off with me for not being able to do it. On day three of my stay they told me the shape of my nipple was most likely causing the issues.
I went home and husband went out to buy a manual Pump for me. I managed to pump around 20ml a time but it took two hours to do.
Between school runs with eldest and everything else I was emotionally and physically drained. Things carried on like this for a few weeks and had to give formula as baby wasn’t getting enough. I gave up after this.

I felt like a complete failure. Because I wanted to breastfeed and it didn’t happen for us.

@masterandmargarita A good one for you, but obviously not for someone who decides it is better for them to FF, not everyone has to have the same feelings and experience as yourself, that's why people take different decisions.

I was not focusing on the negatives, I am trying to understand why some people prefer to FF. Saying that it is a wonderful experience doesn't help to solve any problems, obviously it is not so wonderful for some people, otherwise they will do it and they would also be saving a lot of money in formula. I breastfed my DD until 8 months and apart from the first 3 or 4 days, which were hell (bleeding nipples), it was a great experience for me, I had no big problems, but that was my experience. I had it pretty easy as it was not a very difficult journey for me and my DD slept really well, but I do get that it is not the same for all and I cannot judge someone who FF, I am not in their shoes.

I loved my experience breastfeeding and I would do it again if I had another baby, and I would encourage anyone to do it. But it is not my religion. I am ok if someone decides it is not for them.

Apparently me and y siblings were bottle fed,this was in the 60s.My mum said that all new mums were encouraged to bottle feed so they did.
I don't think the trend has been reversed.Most people did manage to breast feed when it was the norm but most didn't work and everyone did it so there was plenty of advice and it was less of a rarely so less comments.
I breast fed but found it relatively easy but there was no advice.I remember hitting 6 weeks and my baby suddenly permanently hungry,thinking she hadn't enough milk despite the increase in breast size ,leaking etc.Someone to tell me this was a growth spurt and non stop feeding would I crease my milk supply after which 4 hour feeds became the norm.

Hmmmm... I think sleepless nights just come with having a baby. Tbh I think I got more sleep because I was bf. Latching the baby on before either of us woke up fully and going back to sleep again vs getting up to faff around with bottles and a screaming baby.

My daughter is just under 3 weeks old - I managed to breastfeed for just over a week, with huge difficulty. My breasts are very large, with big soft nipples - there is nothing sticking out for her to latch onto. The week we managed to feed for was using nipple shields, and it took literally hours at a time - and yet she was clearly not getting what she needed as we got few wet or dirty nappies, she had a high weight loss and was distressed when trying to feed. I also had to use pillows to raise her up to feed - one hand had to hold my breast and the nipple shield, so I only had one hand left to try to position and support baby.

I honestly tried my best, as I knew breast milk was the best option. I finally cracked after being in immense pain from sitting trying to feed for 3 hours (having had an episiotomy and lots of bruising from ventouse). She fell asleep, I passed her to my husband and stood up painfully to go and lye down for a few minutes and take the weight off my bits. Two minutes later she was awake and rooting, crying for food. I just absolutely broke down, I physically could not sit down any longer, was wobbly with anaemia and just completely exhausted.

Having made the decision to use some formula immediately my husband and I talked later that night and agreed to try formula at least overnight so he could feed her and I could rest. I've not breastfed since. I expressed for a few days as a way of bridging the gap, but she is now so much happier and so am I - prior to this I was in constant tears and I was already being treated for antenatal depression. I had no idea how I was ever going to be able to breastfeed outside the house, and constant feeding meant I had no energy or ability to do pretty much anything else, including actually enjoying my baby.

Do I wish I could breastfeed? Absolutely. However, in our situation I honestly believe we have made the right decision to move to formula - although I do feel a sense of guilt about it and half-expect to be judged when formula feeding out and about

@Flev don’t feel guilty. you did all you could, and more. formula is there for when breastfeeding doesn’t work.

@piscis breastfeeding - one established and with the right help - is much, much easier than firmula feeding. i could play football with my oldest while youngest was in the sling feeding. its not breastfeeding that’s tbe problem, nor is it mums. its the complete absence of knowledgeable support in the uk, and the guilt put on mums that’s the problem

The absolute last thing that women need post baby is to be pressured into doing something they don't want to do.

From my own experience the hysterical breastapo pressure is what made me give up. I put so so much pressure on myself as a result of it, and basically fell apart.

Women who have just had a baby need support.

Because it's hard and no amount of support will change the sheer amount of time and effort it takes. It takes a sheer bloody determination to see it through.
Lack of education makes most mums think they have supply issues ( I'm not denying some people do) but a fussy baby doesn't necessarily equate to a hungry one.
I was very naive feeding my first. I thought it would be every 4 hours and I'd do a dream feed before bed 🙈
I never thought I'd manage 6 weeks never mind 6 months.... currently tandem feeding a baby and a toddler 😊

breastfeeding - one established and with the right help - is much, much easier than firmula feeding.

I don't agree with this at all and I exclusively breastfed my daughter and then continued until she was 3 (I know, I know but she wouldn't stop). Not looking for a medal or anything (though really I am) but I never found it easy. It felt like she fed constantly. It took over my life. I'm glad that I did it but I wish I had been told the truth and not "oh it's much easier, more convenient" etc.

Some find it easy, some find it more difficult.

@Weetabixandshreddies formula feeding has over issues. overfeeding, reflux issues, money, constantly preparing and sterilising miniature smounts in bottles, ... none of them are easy. especially for babies that want to drink all the time. I‘m not saying it wasn’t hard - just saying tricky feeders tend to stay tricky feeders. my oldest was like that, he lived in the sling for his first 18 months.
A friend with a similar child swopped to bottle, and got a different set of issues. if there isn’t a genuine supply or pain problems, issues annoyingly enough just change.

Yura I think you are right in that both methods of feeding come with issues, I just don't think that you can say with certainty that breast feeding is easier than bottle feeding.

My experience of breastfeeding was negative from the health professionals, from a concern about weight gain (Both mine were huge chubby babies that grew into lean kids) when they were small ... 0-3 months to concerns over weaning with my second - he didn't stop b/f until about 3 but he also has dispraxia, a wheat intolerance (Bloating & stomach upsets, sometimes violent stomach upsets) and is also texture sensative I can see why but all the bloody time - hp's were is he still on the boob? You know that breast milk is not nutritious after 6 months (That one from a gp!!!) there didn't seem to be a joined up hymnsheet that they sang from.

Thank goodness for La Letche League, common sense and straight forward information, right when you need it.

There’s no support at all, I have 1 inverted nipple & 1 normal one. DS fed from the normal one but wouldn’t latch on the other. I asked and asked and asked for help to get him to latch. Every single person said ‘babies can latch to inverted nipples’. Well I fed him from one boob for 1 week which had become so sore I was screaming in pain. It felt like he was sucking broken glass through my nipple. Looking back both he and I had thrush. That was also never mentioned. I had no idea what I was doing but wasn’t shy about asking! He’s now bottle fed & happy.

I also think that society has sexualised boobs a great deal so that probably doesn’t help.

what should be done to increase breastfeeding?
And why do so few women end up breastfeeding?

Far more support is needed to help women physically breastfeed after birth. There are so few midwives available and half of them know nothing about breastfeeding.

I'm not convinced the statistics are completely right though as they don't count women who mix feed or express as breast feeders.
Nearly every mother I know breastfed at some point at least and lots of them into toddlerhood.

If mothers were well looked after post birth then the breastfeeding rate would be far higher

Because I tried it and it was the worst three days of my life.

It just wasn’t the right lifestyle choice for me.

I can see why the statistics, especially for breastfeeding older babies and toddlers doesn't match what we see. I know plenty of initially mix feeding mums who may well continue over a year but wouldn't be included.

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

It really doesn't have to be like this. I bf all my babies and as long as we co-slept and they weren't ill they slept beautifully, only waking for a feed which was very easy to give with virtually no disturbance to anyone.
All other parts of the workload (and there's rather more to a baby than just feeding it) are shareable.
Sore breasts should be a short term thing (admittedly sometimes the support is not there). Infections ditto. (And don't forget the ff baby is more likely to get infections so that's a bit of a swings and roundabouts situation... and one where I should imagine most mothers would choose to be the one to suffer).
As for not being able to do much and sitting around all day?! No .... just no. That never happened except for the first couple of weeks. Baby came with me everywhere until they were dropping the late evening feed(s).