Why are BF rates so low in the UK?

[LastNerve1]

Compared to other parts of the world, e.g the Scandinavian countries. And why is the level of BF knowledge sometimes so low/inadequate amongst HVs/midwives? Just curious.

This has been done to death. For comprehensive answers and previous bunfights on the topic have a look at the many previous threads.

I can only speak for myself, but, having breastfed my DS for 3.5 years now, it's because many many people in the UK don't actually accept and welcome
BF. They tolerate it.

I was asked so many times when we'd be stopping, before he got to one. People still haven't bothered asking now he's 3.5. The disgust has got worse

Because we have a choice and many of us decide that we prefer to use formula.

There was plenty of support available from family, friends and midwives for bf but I decided on formula.

Definitely been done to death! I intended to with both of mine but due to bad support in hospital I couldn't get to grips with it and being from a formula fed family/formula fed myself I moved to that with no issues.
I didn't like the rigidness of no nipple shields (I had flat nipples) and no dummies when I fact I could have used both and had success.
But no hard feelings now in the grand scheme of things it's tiny

Lack of expert support routinely available. Lack of community (in terms of seeing other mums do it, particularly older than 6 months). It makes me angry that many who want to breastfeed don't get the support they need and then feel like it's their fault it didn't work out for them.

Because the breastfeeding rates are poor in the UK! It is completely circular. Loads of people don’t know anyone who has breastfed and have never seen “breastfeeding in action” so it is much harder to find someone who can help if you have a problem.

If you have grown up watching your mum, your aunts, your family friends, everyone else you have ever met breastfeeding then it is a lot easier and you are far more likely to be able to find someone who had the same problem you do.

Lack of professional support. My midwives and health visitors constantly wanged on about breastfeeding, but once the baby was here, their advice was either lacking or wrong (which was only realised once I did my own research).

Such a complex discussing discussion.

Some of the reasons include factors like the fact that breastfeeding is "caught not taught" that is to say that we are more likely to bf if we were bf ourselves, our sisters, cousins, friends etc bf. But when formula became freely available we lost a generation or 2, women bottle fed. We're still coming back from that. Positively though our initiation rates are much higher than they used to be.

However, we lack infrastructure for supportive bf. Support isn't just about the early days, it is a societal shift which we just don't have. Legal protection to enable women to continue to bf after return to work pretty much doesn't exist and the paid part of maternity leave isn't long enough to be able to go back and non need to express if you will be continuing to bf.

The who code of conduct for the marketing of breast milk substitutes is 40 years old this year. The UK has only adopted a small number of the recommendations into law. The code isn't about pushing bf but about protecting parents from predatory marketing. But the UK law leaves parents vulnerable to marketing. From way before you have a baby you are bombarded with messages about how this formula protects your baby's immune system and that one is inspired by 30 years of breast milk research. But breast milk doesn't have funding for advertising, how can it compete? Formula companies set up baby clubs, go into partnership with companies and charities seen as wholesome and in doing so they benefit from the halo effect. They seem trustworthy, kind, helpful, supportive. But really they are undermining your confidence in your body and making it more likely you will reach for the formula and that when you do it will be theirs. And if you are a first time mum they will be trying all the harder to get to you because once they have you, they statistically have you for life.

That's a small part anyway. A multitude of other reasons but mainly societal and support related. After all, women are not stupid. The vast majority know breastmilk is better for their baby even if they can't articulate why but the infrastructure just isn't there to keep it going.

Combination of factors in my experience. Dc2 needed nipple shields, had they been suggested earlier I would have fed her longer. I spoke to peer support, midwives and a lactation consultant, all of whom advised skin to skin which didn't get milk in her. In the end a peer supporter whispered nipple shields in my ear, having 1st got me to promise I wouldn't tell anyone.

Dc1 was in nicu. They gave me the choice of formula or a dummy when I wasn't there to stop him crying for me. I don't think that helped. Feeding in an incubator is hard enough. Luckily, he was only there 2 nights, had it been longer I imagine I would have switched to formula given how shit they made me feel about breastfeeding.

With both children I found breastfeeding repulsive, it was particularly bad with dc1 to the point I started pretending he wasn't hungry because I couldn't bear the thought. Again, that seemed to be a hugely taboo topic. In my case trauma played a part but I kept being told I was imaging it and to keep going. I dragged it out to 16 weeks but my mental health suffered horrendously with full on flashbacks in the process.

Honestly you could just use the search on here to find the million of other threads on it. Or Google all the articles on it.

This won’t be a popular view but I feel formula is pushed too quickly and too early.

@lavenderandwisteria

This won’t be a popular view but I feel formula is pushed too quickly and too early.

It’s the opposite. Breast feeding is assumed far too much.

Because taking care of a newborn is hard and using formula is much easier then BF’ing.

Professor Amy Brown of Swansea has a body of research about this.

I think until the point of birth that’s true bluntness then when breastfeeding is difficult and there are problems or the baby loses weight immediately there is pressure to introduce formula and many babies just won’t breastfeed once formula has been introduced.

I have been told more times than I’ve had hot dinners fed is best, no one can tell which child in reception had formula, but it still matters to me and still really upsets me that I failed.

Because some people don't want to and that's OK. The thought of it made me feel quezy, I ff and I was so pleased I had the choice to do so. Its all about doing what's right for you.

@musthavebeenlove

Because taking care of a newborn is hard and using formula is much easier then BF’ing.

It's interesting because having ebf DS1 it really looked as though I'd have to formula feed DS2 because he was completely unable to latch at all, was very jaundiced and I was really struggling to keep up with the pumping post section with a toddler and I honestly found FF so, so hard.

The washing up, the sterilising, the prep of it, remembering to have enough if you ever left the house plus my PNA really fixated on it and I really worried I would somehow do it wrong and make baby poorly. I was so relieved when we identified his tongue tie and got it snipped and we could start to bf (with shields at first).

I really think it's a mixed bag and I really am not bothered about what other people do but having done both I'd pick bf for ease every time!

I find formula much harder too, but it depends on your baby I suppose. I think breastfeeding is possibly harder at first but then gets easier.

My MIL was quite anti breastfeeding after having a bad experience breastfeeding DH in the eighties. It's extremely obvious that DH has a tongue tie, still as an adult. SIL tried and gave up quite quickly, as she also experienced lack of support.

I have been breastfed myself and have seen my mother breastfeeding my siblings. If it wasn't for that I might not have felt so confident to see it through. Ended up breastfeeding til 2y 10 months.

Never found formula hard - microwave steriliser, perfect prep machine, a DH who did his share of night feeds and plenty of friends and family always willing to give bottles.
Used formula from day one so no stress or fear of failure at bf to be concerned about. All I wanted was a healthy baby and happy parents - formula gave us that

The NHS gives mixed messages. I too had a NICU baby who they just wanted on regular 4 hourly formula feeds. Luckily it was a short stay and I was able to wean her off it. I think the NHS believes in the breast is breast message in theory but not in action.

Agree that we don't really have a breastfeeding culture anymore and the formula companies are allowed too much. I certainly had no idea the follow on milk I saw on TV was just for over 6 months because I knew nothing about babies

I found using formula very easy - we even bought cans of ready made formula during the first difficult weeks with DS and we had a bottle sterilizer so all we had to do was pop his bottles in there after each use.

Very little training in breastfeeding required for midwives, and it never needs to be refreshed or topped up.

Breastfeeding training for hvs even more basic. No breastfeeding related content in training for GPs.

"Infant feeding specialist" midwife does not need any extra training. Sometimes you'll find the IFS is a trained IBCLC or breastfeeding counsellor which is brilliant, but this is very rare.

This means if yours does have good knowledge it's likely due to their own personal interest, they may have undergone extra training at their own expense. Lactation consultants (who do need to do a huge amount of training, keep knowledge up to date etc) not routinely employed by the NHS although may be hired for a midwife role.

Midwives only support mums for 10 days and therefore do not see the long term impact of their advice. Most are overworked and understaffed. They do not have the time to sit with a new mum and get breastfeeding off to a good start properly. Often goals are short term: e.g. improve blood sugar levels, increase weight gain. You can do that in a very quick way by introducing formula. You can also do it in a longer and more complicated way by looking at the causes of the problem and supporting mum e.g. with latch, dividing tongue tie, assessing other issues. But this time is not often available and so the knowledge is not used and becomes forgotten.

There is very little support once somebody has introduced formula by choice or medical need. Ideally you would then be supported to protect breastmilk supply and be enabled to continue breastfeeding alongside that formula. Instead the attitude seems to be that it is all or nothing, that once you've started bottles it's inevitable full formula feeding will follow. Some volunteer type breastfeeding groups help with return to full breastfeeding but very few will support combo feeding, which is counterproductive.

Because most people bottle feed (and even more so in the previous generation) that means expectations of babies and feeding are generally based on bottle feeding. This does not always map nicely into breastfeeding, leading mums to worry that they have a problem when perhaps they do not. Or even simple things like how you hold the baby (different for BF and bottle feeding) which can make BF difficult if you try to transfer it across or bottle feeding ideas like trying to stick to a set X-hourly routine. Breastfeeding feeling like something "weird" or "hippyish" or "not for people like me".

It’s still not normalised. I noticed at playgroups, the little girls would automatically give their dolls a bottle. Only my daughter would put the doll to her chest.
People are still very squeamish about it.
It’s hard.