Being ‘paid to breastfeed’ - your thoughts?

[SarahMumsnet]

The BBC's reporting this morning that new mothers living in some areas of Derbyshire and south Yorkshire are to be given vouchers for shops including Matalan, Mothercare and John Lewis if they breastfeed their babies. These will be given out as part of a study by the University of Sheffield, aimed at discovering whether “financial incentives” will increase the uptake of breastfeeding in parts of the country where rates are low; mothers will receive vouchers worth up to £120 if they breastfeed until six weeks, and another £80-worth if they continue to the six-month mark.

The scheme, according the senior researcher on the project, is intended "as a way of acknowledging both the value of breastfeeding to babies, mothers and society, and the effort involved in breastfeeding. Offering financial incentives ... might increase the numbers of babies being breastfed, and complement on-going support for breastfeeding provided by the NHS, local authorities and charities."

We've been asked by the beeb what Mumsnetters make of the idea; what's your reaction?

wombles I wasn't just meaning intelligence, I meant a more rounded view of parenting, and of childhood than simply 'how were they fed'. I know the health benefits of BF, and I think they are genuinely amazing, I completely take your point on that - I am glad it is encouraged and promoted. I just think we could have kids breastfed for six months, then turn away thinking we've done our bit, and not look at (for example), what food they are fed after that, or what other factors might promote a healthy and happy life. I don't think this should be just for anyone in need of the cash by the way, I think a bit more support across the board would be fantastic.

forgetmenots "there are social factors for all of the things that parents do" - totally agree :)

In fact, it's the social factors this study is attempting to confront....by acknowledging that breastfeeding is hard when virtually no one in your area, and that it's a worthwhile thing to do, despite the nasty comments and the criticism.

" I'm not sure that simply paying mums to bf is the silver bullet to improving conditions for mums and babies alike"

Of course it isn't - these things are complex and there is no one single way to deal with them (who is saying it could be the silver bullet????).

"I was told repeatedly that policy on bf meant they could not offer me advice on any other form of feeding once I had indicated I wanted to bf."

This is such a crap misinterpretation of Baby Friendly (the international initiative many hospitals try to follow)....that is so not what it's about.

" I genuinely could thank you a hundred times over, and the other women on the bf board."

:)

Good point merrymouse re. it being 'normal' - I think amongst my friends it's just accepted everyone will at least try and bf, hence the FF guilt from mums who fail, I suppose that's the other side of the coin. My questions in my original post were genuinely meant to be rhetorical, I'm still mulling it over but I can see why people have taken the idea in quite different ways.

forgetmenots - "I just think we could have kids breastfed for six months, then turn away thinking we've done our bit, and not look at (for example), what food they are fed after that, or what other factors might promote a healthy and happy life."

There is no danger of that - have you been living on Mars? :) :)

The last govt and this one, too, have put several zillion pounds into programmes and initatives on food, exercise, and other factors promoting and healthy and happy life....you've heard of Start 4 Life, I take it (the TV ads, the leaflets, the training) and that's just one single scheme...

agree tiktok (and glad to hear you say that the people who told me that when I was in hospital were misinterpreting something, I hoped that was the case.).

I am genuinely interested to hear what comes out of this study - what you're saying about this being complex was the crux of my very poorly framed initial thought, I suppose I never think these things work in isolation without other parts of the puzzle. Let's see how the study goes (and if bf rates shoot up, and that encourages other aspects of healthy living to increase, I will be its biggest supporter).

argh, x-posting, sorry

difference I felt with this tiktok was it wouldn't be a scheme, it would be incentivised, unlike the other programmes. Perhaps if it works, others would follow suit - part of my mulling over...

I suffered AND and PND and was put on meds as soon as DS was born. I was told I couldn't breastfeed because of the meds but was made to feel terribly guilty as a consequence. These vouchers would penalise mothers like me and add to my guilt when I was already feeling a failure.

DS thrived on ff, is 15 now and is (and always has been) in fine health.

These days, happily, more HCPs are aware of the fact that most ADs are compatible with breastfeeding.....sorry you felt so bad Cossima :(

Very few mothers cannot bf because of meds.

" I do find the idea of it insulting because I know people on both sides of this, myself included, who have strived and worked hard to help their babies thrive and I'm at a loss about what bigger incentive one could have than the health of their child. "

YY I agree with this.

But I have absolutely no patience with the bonkers idea that things which are intended to promote breastfeeding are bad because they might make ff-ing mothers feel bad. It isn't about you.

Sitting with a not-by-choice ff-ing mother and going on and on about "breast is best" = yes this is rude and insensitive (and of course totally pointless because that woman would already be bf-ing if she could)

taking steps, as a society, to promote and normalise and facilitate bfing = good. It's not being done to get at you. It's being done to help those other babies and mothers.

I agree with all of that mildred.
100% agree with promoting bf.

thanks ticktok...luckily I recovered my mental health quickly. A mentally well mother is the most important thing to me on this subject...

As someone who desperately wanted to breastfeed and had to stop due to my son's lactose intolerance, I find this "incentive" idea depressing. At the time of stopping feeding I felt depressed and an utter failure. This "incentive" would have made it worse. Where I live, La Leche were useless and midwives, health-visitors and the NCT just lectured me and didn't listen to my problems and were hard to get hold of. Often I had to leave a message and wait hours, or days for someone to get back to me. Not great with a screaming child waking up every hour. After consultation, my GP who diagnosed a temporary lactose intolerance and advised I switch to lactose free formula. I had a huge email lecture about breast is best from the NCT when I asked about support for bottle feeding mothers. Anyone that could help me totally ignored my issues around mastitis, breastfeeding, antibiotics and a vomiting son. More physical support and understanding (not just someone on the phone) is needed. And if you have to give a bottle, then you should not be made to feel bad about it. You are providing the best that you can and being a good enough parent.

OK. BBC and NHS Information Centre:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14578500

Look, in danger of getting tangled up in NOT THE POINT here!

I wholeheartedly advocate breastfeeding, if Mums wants to do it. But rather than bribe her, let's actually help her. The assumption that she's not doing it because she can't be arsed, and may be swayed by some vouchers for geegaws, is just plain rude. Let's employ MORE tiktoks and have them sat beside every bed, actually giving practical help, rather than just theory.

And, tiktok sorry if I came across as at all snippy or smug. I'm on your side .

You've got it wrong, SB, sorry!

The BBC have not written it very well, I grant you.

In that survey (not the Infant Feeding survey I talked about, but a decent enough survey nonetheless) 45 per cent of mothers are breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks old. That does not mean that 'well over half of new mums have stopped breastfeeding by six weeks old'.

For a start, the figure is 6-8 weeks, not 6 weeks. This is important for accuracy.

But more importantly, as 'more than 80 per cent of women start breastfeeding', only 45 per cent of women are still bf at 6-8 weeks, that means that 35 of those original 80 out of 100 women have stopped (because the baseline is 80 per cent, not 100 per cent). And that is considerably under half of them!

You said 'most women have stopped by 6 weeks'. It's just not true.

It is not terribly important overall - my only aim in making the point was to tell you (aren't I kind? :) ) that your blog post was incorrect in every point you made...and that was one of your incorrect points!

And the voucher study is not assuming the mother cannot be arsed to bf - for goodness sake. It is not so much assuming as knowing that in areas where there is very little bf, that mothers are less likely to breastfeed because of negative social attitudes.

I work with mothers in those sorts of areas. I can assure you that it's nothing to do with not being arsed to breastfeed.

Some of them want to breastfeed, even long to breastfeed....but the pressure from the people who matter to them is very great, and difficult to combat. A shopping voucher might just illustrate to the negative people that it could be worth breastfeeding!

Some cannot even envisage breastfeeding - it's just not on their radar. They have not studied all the info and made an informed choice, as mothers sometimes say they do on Mumsnet. Breastfeeding just does not figure in their lives. A shopping voucher might just open the conversation about it...who knows? We don't know, 'cos it's just a feasability study.

And it's not a question of 'vouchers or proper help' - proper help is essential, for everyone, and targetted vouchers should never replace it.

Connie, I wasn't aware the NCT provided individual advice by email. Who was it you contacted there?

They've got some very clear and detailed advice on bottlefeeding on their website.

No amount of money would have made me do that.

There's just no need these days.

Connie - "I had a huge email lecture about breast is best from the NCT when I asked about support for bottle feeding mothers"

Can you give more details? You can PM me if you prefer.

NCT has never used the slogan Breast is Best, and bfcs certainly do support bottle feeding mothers....do you mean you asked why there was no bottle feeding session or something?

Tbh I think the govermemt and mumsnet should pay tiktok for really supporting people on here to bf
I couldn't have bf my dd with out the help on here and I've had a lot of help bf my ds2 from here

Another daft idea if you ask me.

Breast feeding has financial benefits anyway...if your in it for the money

Maybe a little campaign to show what they can buy when not paying for formula milk would make more sense?

OR...this may sound a little bit crazy....maybe woman should just have their own mind and be able to decide how THEY would like to feed their DC rather than being bribed.

Maybe nobody else thinks like me, but if, in the first six weeks I had been surrounded by people who thought I was a complete loon and that i was generally making things harder for me, my baby and everyone else by doing all the night feeds, suffering mastitis, depriving others of the chance to feed the baby, never leaving my baby and either breast feeding in public or staying at home to breast feed, I would not have tried.

It's not about being a bad mother. When I was born in the 1970's I think this would have been the prevailing attitude and my mum didn't think twice about formula feeding me, even taking into account the greater cost. Now I think the tide has turned, but I don't think it has turned everywhere.

forgetmenots - you make a good point. There is this 'all or nothing' attitude when it comes to promoting breastfeeding. In my view, teaching how to mix feed successfully (as well as how to make and store bottles of both breastmilk and formula), would be an excellent thing.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have topped my boy up with formula on day three. When you know better, you do better.

visualise I didn't do very well expressing must before (really must read posts back...), I agree completely.

I wouldn't ever want to see a situation where two mums, perhaps battling the same social issues and factors, were treated differently based solely on feeding. I would rather they were both just supported to the hilt. Perhaps this study will show the vouchers will be a positive part of that. I was hypothesising based on people I know and it came out rather more sweeping...

I hope dc2 and I would do better. I would certainly be far better informed and more confident about making a fuss.

Expressing *myself. Oh the irony!

There is no 'all or nothing' approach, unless by this you mean breastfeeding promotion that points out a) that the most significant benefits to babies come with exclusive breastfeeding and b) that early and frequent supplementation with formula is linked with the early cessation of breastfeeding.

It's important that people know this but it DOESN'T imply 'all or nothing' and it's odd you'd interpret this sort of information as giving women this idea.