The UK has a breastfeeding rate at 12 months of 0.5% apparently - worst in the world.

[minifingerz]

Whereas 99.4% of women in Senegal, where there is widespread poverty, double the UK average family size, no maternity leave and minimal medical or midwifery support for postnatal mothers, are still going.

Those statistics are mind-boggling, given that most of the 82% of women who start off breastfeeding in the UK state medical reasons for not being able to continue breastfeeding.

Does beg the question - how is this possible?

here

[BoboChic]

I breastfed for ages but 4-6 months would have been plenty. I carried on because I had no idea how to stop and because vanity got the better of me (I revelled in the simultaneous thin thighs and big breasts!).

[tiktok]

No! Formula is not on prescription in Norway. And no, Norwegian BF rates were never low in the 70s or any other time. They never had a less than 99 per cent initiation rate. The length of time women BF shortened for a brief period, but it was far easier for Norway to counteract this as they were never a ff society.

Putting formula on prescription is a TERRIBLE idea. That means doctors not mothers decide how babies are fed.

The stats that show the uk's breastfeeding rate are not gathered by recording the feeding of every mother. They come from representative surveys. The reports in the Lancet are not really 'about' individual mothers and babies. Of course individual mothers and babies have individual circumstances as well as, naturally enough, the choice and freedom mothers have to make their own decisions.

But on a population level, a proportion of mothers and babies would avoid a number of health problems, some of them serious, if there was more breastfeeding and if it was done for longer.

That should be of interest to anyone who pays taxes and anyone who actually prefers a society where the health needs of families are supported and considered.

It doesn't mean judging individuals.

[Adeleslostbeehive]

You're wrong there cats. So everyone pro BF wants women to be martyrs? What a completely odd view. Anyway this is going nowhere and is becoming increasingly meaningless. You have your view and I have mine; it's not important that you disagree, I couldn't care less.

[OvariesBeforeBrovaries]

tiktok You are mumsnet's unofficial feeding guru for a very good reason

[Out2pasture]

late to the party and I did not read all the posts but what do people put in bottles if not formula?? well I've seen people use; goats milk, powered milk, condensed milk, and recently in the news nut milk, watered down pablum (rice cereal) and more.

[tiktok]

:) at ovaries :)

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

I haven't read the article so apologies if this is stated in the discussion or whatever, but just wondering: could it be that babies in Senegal who are not breastfed /cannot breastfeed actually do not survive, for reasons mentioned by pp (lack of clean water etc)?

I don't much like the title of this post saying that we in the UK are the 'worst' for not bf at 1 year. I was very sick after giving birth and my milk never came in. Despite weeks and months of trying (feeding and expressing every 2h etc etc), I never made milk and I would say this is a medical reason for not bf. I don't consider that my baby's experience is 'worst' though.

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

Tiktok my baby is allergic to cows milk and we get formula on prescription. I'm so, so grateful, as it would cost £20/tin otherwise (2-3 tins a week)

[CultureSucksDownWords]

The headline in the Lancet is just saying that our rate of breastfeeding at 12 months is the worst rate of the countries they looked at. It's not making a judgement about anyone's individual feeding choice. National and international health organisations recognise that increased rates of breastfeeding across whole populations produces better health outcomes at a population level. Again it's not about any one individual's situation.

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

It was a headline on the bbc website I think?

Isn't the Lancet paper actually titled 'reastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect'?

Anyway, whatever the source I still don't like the use of the word 'worst'. 'Lowest' would've been equally descriptive, and implied no judgement.

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

*breastfeeding

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I think the judgement element comes from the fact that at a population level outcomes are improved with higher breastfeeding rates. It is a judgement being made by that headline as its been reported, but not a judgement about any individual, rather about the UK as a whole. So, the lack of effectiveness of public health campaigns and similar.

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

Yes I understand that it's a population study but the implications of the language resonate at an individual level for me. It's an emotive subject.

If it is the case that survival of babies in Senegal is in fact confounded by breastfeeding then the language is even less appropriate.

[TheCatsMeow]

I agree the language is not appropriate. Why not say lowest or smallest?

[Stepawayfromthezebras]

What's the 'optimum' time for bf'ing then. Most people I know have bf for 6 months but if that's not enough what should we be aiming for?

I'm currently bf'ing my 10 day old baby. She'd lost nearly 11% of her body weight at her 5 day checkup so the midwives have put us on a feeding plan which fingers crossed seems to be working, hopefully when she's weighed today she'll have put more on. I'm quite relaxed about the whole thing mainly because I know that if all else fails I can change to formula so my baby isn't going to be malnourished if I have an inadequate milk supply. I really want bf'ing to be successful but would find this time incredibly stressful if there was a taboo around ff and I was going to feel a failure for having to resort to it

Another thing, I wonder how much of the UK'S lower bf'ing rates have to do with our drinking culture. I really hope I don't offend anyone by bringing it up - but there must be some people who go onto ff because they want to enjoy more than the occasional glass of wine

[tiredandhungryalways]

I nursed my eldest till just over 2 and currently nursing my baby. This time I am much more confident but when nursing for the first time I avoided all my family as I constantly had horrible undermining and negative comments. Breastfeeding was seen as being not really worth the hassle when formula is so easily available. However my eldest was a preemie and the fantastic nurses in special care really explained the valueof breast milk and it being like medicine for the baby. It was the only thing I felt I could alone do for my children. So to conclude, the issue is I think breast milk and formula are perceived to be similar which is why rates are so low

[Mistigri]

I'm very dubious about the stats on which this claim is based ... Not the UK stats necessarily, but some of the others seem very inflated. I just did a poll on the Parents in France group that I help run (1000 members most of whom have raised small children here), and we are in unanimous agreement that 9% is a massive overestimate of extended bf in France. It is likely that this figure includes France's poor and relatively undeveloped overseas territories (which is a bit like Britain including former colonies in national statistics) - but even so we're at a loss to understand it. One member described her French doctor's reaction to the news that she was still bf at 12 months as "actively disbelieving".

I agree with bunloaf's comment about emotive language, which if used in the study (and not just in the reporting on the study), might suggest researchers who are not above playing fast and loose with the stats.

[CoteDAzur]

I agree with Mistigri. Breastfeeding rates among French mothers are surprisingly low around where we live. I would be very surprised at even a 1% claimed rate of extended breastfeeding.

[StitchesInTime]

I hate it when people use terms like some women like to martyr themselves in relation to breastfeeding.

Yes, I know it doesn't work out for everyone. I know establishing breastfeeding can be very tough or impossible. I didn't manage to get it established with DS1, so he was bottlefed.

But when breastfeeding works well, the choice to continue breastfeeding to 6 months or a year or more is not equivalent to "liking to martyr" yourself.

DS2 is breastfed. DS2 took very well to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding DS2 has been easier and more convenient than bottle feeding DS1 ever was, even when we were using the UHT bottles of formula for convenience. Choosing to stop breastfeeding DS2 and switch to formula would have made me feel like far more of a martyr than breastfeeding him ever has.

I would guess that most women who breastfeed longer term are also women who are are finding breastfeeding works well for them, rather than women who hate breastfeeding and are having to force themselves to continue.

[FurryGiraffe]

I think it's very easy for people to generalise from their own experience (in relation to many things- not just breastfeeding!). If you found it tough, then you imagine that continuing to breastfeed beyond the first few weeks is an act of sacrifice. I'm know some women do persevere for a long time through huge problems and for them there is sacrifice involved. But personally, once I got past the first couple of weeks it was easy and formula would have been much more work. For lots of people breastfeeding is the lazy choice

Whether it's easy or difficult of course depends to a large extent on your body (breast size, supply, underlying health conditions), baby (prematurity, tongue tie, general tendency to faff about etc) and birth. Obviously those things we have no control over. But it also depends on factors we (as a society) do have control over: quality of post-natal breastfeeding support, education (about how it works, not whether it's a good thing) and cultural norms and expectations surrounding breastfeeding. I think the case for working very hard on those things is overwhelming, not least because we know that there is a large number of women who want to breastfeed and either can't do so or give up sooner than they'd like to. Given the evidence on health outcomes at a population level, it seems very shortsighted as a society not to attempt to do something about these. At the moment, we seem to have the worst of all possible worlds: a culture where we are all indoctrinated with the idea that 'breast is best' so that women who can't/don't breastfeed often feel enormously guilty for FF, but where we not only don't provide adequate support for mothers who want to breastfeed, but actively sabotage it a lot of the time (from the HCP who advise 'topping up' after every feed when a perfectly healthy baby has lost a few grams more than the flowchart says it 'should', to the well meaning relatives who dispense 'advice' about 'not getting enough').

[TheCatsMeow]

Stitches I don't think everyone who bf martyrs themselves but adele said in response to me saying formula was easier for some people "well having a baby is hard" and implied you shouldn't "take the easy option".

It's that thinking I'm talking about. Not just bf because it suits you

[StitchesInTime]

Okay TheCats, perhaps I was being a little touchy.

I've heard that sort of line uttered in all seriousness about all women who BF past a certain point too many times before.

[TheCatsMeow]

Stitches that's really uncalled for and like you said doesn't even make sense!

The people I'm on about are the ones who give birth without pain relief and so insist everyone should because "well what did you think it would be like?", insist everyone should bf, insist that parental sleep is a luxury. I'm sure you know the type

[StitchesInTime]

Yes, I agree that sort of thing can get very irritating very quickly.