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

When dd had her MMR jab at 12months-ish they recorded that she was still being breastfed. I recently took her to the doctors for something and when I mentioned dd (18 months now) is still bf the Doctor was quite shocked and not in a good way. I don't think our society is comfortable with breastfeeding, particularly older babies and children. I think that's the main reason our rates are lower than other places.

"As someone who could not breastfeed, I hate the insinuation that it's always a choice to FF"

Surely most people, especially health professionals, are aware that there's a tiny number of women who definitely can't breastfeed? Some women will have had mastectomies, have rare health conditions which make breastfeeding impossible, or be on medication which is harmful to babies, etc? It is sad if people aren't aware of this.

There's too much pressure and not enough actual information, my pediatrician advised I give my DS formula (tbf he was screaming 24/7 and underweight) but it seems to be really common. It never once crossed my mind that breastfeeding could be difficult until I tried it.

Society plays a huge part IMO. Women no longer hide away after having a baby so it either it needs to become socially acceptable to breastfeed a baby anywhere in front of anyone (which I can't see changing) or formula will be the majority, especially for those conscious of what others think.

Would you not consider physical pain and discomfort a medical issue? Would you consider exhaustion a medical issue? I can imagine that's a lot of the contributing factors to stopping, aside from a host of more acute symptoms.

This

I wasn't asked and I still was breast feeding at 12 months so not reliable statistics really.

Also, does it really matter? We're fortunate in the UK that we can make formula safely.

I stopped bfing. Or rather ds stopped by choice at 13mo. However I'm quite sure nobody asked me how I was feeding after around 9mo check and they certainly didn't ask at the next check at 27mo.

"I'm wholly unsurprised that we generally don't keep going for a whole year."

But aren't you surprised that in other developed countries loads of people ARE still breastfeeding at a year?

Why is Norway so different? And Canada?

The "does it really matter?" is the issue I think. The majority of people don't believe that formula is any different to breastmilk and that there is no point at all to breastfeeding. I find that belief hard to understand tbh.

Could someone please explain why not breastfeeding after 12 months is considered to be public health issue in a western culture.

But aren't you surprised that in other developed countries loads of people ARE still breastfeeding at a year?

No, different cultures.

"Also, does it really matter? We're fortunate in the UK that we can make formula safely."

Well, UNICEF, the NHS, the Lancet, the WHO and various other public health bodies think it does matter, that it saves lives and reduces health care costs, even in developed countries:

nhs

I accept that this isn't a fashionable view on mumsnet though.

By 12 months though isn't the issue, the issue is to get more people who bf the right support to not give up in the first few weeks

"No, different cultures"

But so often the end of breastfeeding is presented as something absolutely natural and physiological - baby stopped wanting to breastfeed, milk dried up. How can the development of babies and the physiology of mothers and vary so drastically from country to country? How is it shaped by culture?

mini

Different parenting, maybe we encourage babies to be less dependant in ways we don't realise. Maybe we don't feed as frequently so supply dries up.

"By 12 months though isn't the issue, the issue is to get more people who bf the right support to not give up in the first few weeks"

I'd agree that focusing on getting more women to the six month mark is of greater value at the moment.

Same question as tilder. I bought into the whole bf thing wholeheartedly and aimed and failed for exclusive with my prem first born but got there with my second baby. But once they are sitting there eating a roast dinner (yes mine were good eaters from very early) I really couldn't see the point and had better things to do. And actually so did they. DD expressed her lack of interest at 9mo....

No I'm not surprised.in Sweden/Norway etc they have longer mat leave if I recall correctly. Given in the UK people can just about maybe stay off until babys first birthday (but usually not), stopping before then isn't surprising.

As for Canada - i its anything like the us, people pump a lot more,and presumably also havr somewhere to stored the stuff anf don't work so far away that they can keep it cool on the way home.

"maybe we encourage babies to be less dependant in ways we don't realise. Maybe we don't feed as frequently so supply dries up"

I'd agree with that.

But in relation to independence - nobody who's lived in Africa (as I have) would ever see African toddlers (who are often breastfed) as more dependent than UK toddlers (who rarely are). The absolute opposite I'd say. I was amazed by the competence of sometimes very tiny children when I lived in East Africa.

I find the 0.5% very hard to believe actually. I didn't go to any bf-specific mum groups yet out of all the mums I knew (far less than 200) there were a good handful bfing at 12mo. Though most only maybe once a day by then.

It vaguely irks me that people, non medical people, decide that people have just not tried hard enough or had poor support.

I tried with my first dc, had great support. Was devastated, to a ridiculous level in hindsight, that he wouldn't latch on. Luckily, my friends aren't judgmental. Including my fantastic independent midwife friend, who is a breastfeeding guru. Found out a few years later that he has a cleft palate.

I would class postnatal depression, exhaustion, a difficult birth as all medical reasons. We are entitled to look after ourselves as mothers as well as our babies. I think it's another example of how mental health is not seen as real a thing as physical issues.

The mat leave argument doesn't really make any sense as in the US they get so little but still manage to do better than us. And I think Scandinavian countries are actually very focussed on mothers working via excellent childcare (and shared leave with fathers) so I don't think it's the norm to stay at home for months and months breastfeeding.

I get that we should do better at, say, 1 month and 3 months. But 12 months - it's not clear to me that that should be a public health priority.

I think the main thing is support. Of all my friends I was the only one who bf at all. And even I was close to giving up many times. It is bloody hard in the beginning and the support is not good.

mini dependant probably wasn't the right word but different cultural practises that encourage less physical contact/bf and more self settling is what I meant

minifingerz
Its galling for us that chose to ff how bothered those like yourself are that we didn't bf.

I stopped BF both DCs at about 8 months when I went back to work each time. It was difficult enough to juggle that without adding an extra layer of complications, and if I'm honest I wanted my ridiculously -sized boobs to go back to their normal (still very large) size. Also I loathed expressing. Im happy with the choices I made and happy that I was able to choose. From what my sister's MIL says though, in the US many mums don't go back to work as the maternity leave provision is so rubbish (is it 6 weeks unpaid or something like that?) so the figures aren't necessarily a straightforward comparison.