Why are breastfeeding rates so low in this country??

[PasstheBucket89]

This is not a judgment thread, im not evangelical about either ive done both through necessity, BF/FF,. Im genuinely wondering why in one of the richest countries our levels are so low, sometimes in comparison to poorer countries with less medical care infrastructure. is it purely cultural, is it worse now than 30 years ago, i was and my sister BF until about a year old, so did many of my cousins or is it getting better now? so yeah no bunfight please just curious, i would like to BF this time, hopefully it goes better than the last 2 times x

Because we are one of the richest countries.
Lifestyle and affordibility of formula are major factors. Either the necessity to not be or lack of desire to be the person solely responsible for feeding. Returning to work for the sake of financial security, maintaining a social life, split relationships. Being liberal and having the formula readily available are some real reasons people don't breast feed.

We have the option of clean equipment and formula. Therefore choice. Not so for developing countries.

I agree with pp. Lifestyle is a major factor and relatively poor statutory maternity provision meaning mum may need to go back earlier than she should in order to keep family finances afloat can't help.
I bf'd my son for nearly 2 years because in was lucky enough to be able to stay at home x

Yes you answered your own question... in less ‘developed’ countries without access to clean water to make formula with, breastfeeding is vital for survival as it’s safe. Imagine making bottle of formula with water from a well etc

We don't have a culture of breastfeeding (as a general rule - some of it is class based and obviously the UK includes many cultures and so there are differences).

I came from a strong culture of breastfeeding in my family so I assumed that's how I would feed my children and I did (other women in my family from the same background also bf, some didn't - it's choice as well and also some had problems and ff worker better for them).

The vast majority of my friends and colleagues came from a family culture of ff and that was they did. Of course some from that background did bf, and some started and then changed to ff, but the culture and expectation from family and community was definitely that they would ff, no matter what health professionals might have said.

And it's been like that for a long time. In the early 70s my mum was only 1 of 2 women on the ward who bf and she struggled to get the midwives to accept that she didn't want to use a bottle (and actually, from what she told me about me being taken away at night in hospital I'm pretty sure I was ff at night by staff.) All her mum friends also ff.

A lot of women don't want to BF because they see it as a real tie. They want other people to be able to feed the baby, inc. the dad, because otherwise it's them getting up in the night, every night, until their DC weans. Also lack of support to get it established, needing to work, the flexibility of FF. I couldn't be arsed with all the sterilising of bottles myself - BF was pretty much free and once you've got it sussed it's easy! But I was able to stay at home with my babies and wanted to, many can't and don't.

Poorer countries women have to breastfeed there is no other option. Here we have other options and women work, so it’s about doing what works best all round.

Guaranteed clean safe reliable water supply. Necessity of 2 incomes to afford a house in most areas. Most people do not live near their immediate family, hence they need to use & be able to afford paid childcare in order to be able to work.
Or, people are stuck in the poverty cycle for many years, only 1 main earner, & when (usually the mother) eventually returns to full time work it's impossible to catch up.
Or, for a small minority, only one income is needed.

In the 70s women were told they could be "having it all", but often discovered this really meant "doing it all".

It’s partly cultural. Where I come from, 50% of the population is exclusively breast feeding at 6 months. I remember asking my friends (like me- educated, middle class, employed, having kids in their 30s) how they would feed their babies. And they looked at me like I had two heads. Breastfeeding is the norm. Families help out enormously in the first few months. Mothers are expected to relax and feed and everything else is done for them. There is no pressure to go out and pretend that your life has not been massively upturned.
There is also a lot of everyday support. When I was on day 20 of endless cluster feeding my mum, MIL and aunts were all telling me ‘it was the same, hang in there’ and not suggesting I switch to a bottle.

In my opinion it is because decent breastfeeding support is completely lacking in this country. The 'support' I have experienced is pretty dire.

I'm fortunate enough that I had the money to be able to seek out and pay for proper support. Others dont have that luxury.

Bad attitudes - I breastfed both my babies but DM, MIL, DSIS were all horrified that I wasn't bottle feeding. DP was very hacked off when I didn't stop on their first birthdays. Got loads of grief off DM and DSIS for breastfeeding until nearly age three.

DSIS encouraged her own daughter to quit when her baby for six months. According to DSIS it's too time consuming and makes babies clingy. It also ruins your social life!

Your probably right in terms of sterilisation,all the equipment you have to buy etc, they have more of an expressing culture in the US due to less maternity time? correct me if im wrong. I find info about expressing difficult to access over here.

And so yes I didn’t have lactation consultants on hand, but I had enough aunties and other people including friends who had recently given birth to offer lots of practical advice, check my latch, offer tips, and generally act like my cheerleaders. I have since done the same for many friends and cousins.
I think it takes a village to breastfeed successfully and motherhood in the U.K. is often a lonely experience. And there is a belief that breastfeeding will make it lonelier still.
My experience was the exact opposite. I had lots of communal support while breastfeeding in the early days, and once established I could go out freely with much less faff than having to worry about preparing feeds (in a hot country).

In the US where I now live there is no maternity leave. A good company will give you six weeks, a great one may give you three months. People start expressing straight off the bat as a result because it is impossible to breastfeed and go back to work at the same time.

Lack of support from midwives and health visitors. I did breast feed my second baby but only because she wouldn't take a bottle. I struggled through mastitis, thrush, cluster feeding and pain from trying to perfect the latch. All with no support in real life - I found all the help online through breastfeeding groups and other mums.

It also has an image of being a magical time and very easy to do. It was actually one of the hardest things I've ever done. The NHS needs to provide more support before birth so women are more prepared. They won't though because ante and post natal care is massively underfunded

Yes I got all my support from my mum and my grandmother who had gone through a lot of the same problems that I had. I had ok support from the hospital, but it was patchy and not available on tap when you were at the end of your tether like support from your social network is.

I also got support from online communities. In real life, I would never have complained to friends because either I would have been told that I should switch to ff or told I was lucky to still be doing it - when I did meet up in real life with other mothers would were bf it was so nice to be able to share tips and have a moan without having to worry about boring or offending someone.

ive experienced the its just easier, i couldn't be arsed with all that! comments, yeah breastfeeding support tbh any feeding support tbh, im even entirely sure what cluster feeding is and im on baby no. 3, i mean ive read but never had it explained.

My first is coming 30 soon. I was the only person I knew, either of my friends or family to breastfeed. I bf him til 18 months and was the complete hippie weirdo.

Same with my others. No one bf. except me.

So in my experience it is better now than years ago.

I would like to add that breastfeeding in public is not always seen here/ not seen enough . Breasts are sexualised more than anything . If you go a developing country with high breastfeeding rates you will see boobs and breastfeeding all over the place .

At the current time I would certainly say a lack of support. I have a 13 week old and BF we had various issues and struggled to get any form of support because of Covid. I had to pay privately for tongue tie division because the NHS clinic was closed. Had I not I physically couldn't have BF because the pain was excruciating. Honestly the care and support has been shocking

There is a real lack of support for breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding isn't normalised here so as soon as babies exhibit typical bf behaviour (cluster feeding, fussiness, frequent night feeds), mothers assume something is going wrong and are often advised to give formula by family and friends and even medical professionals. There's also a huge pressure on women to get back to normal - get their evenings back, get back to the gym, get out and about every day, get their social life back. This simply isn't compatible with breastfeeding- mothers need to feed feed feed and feed on demand in those crucial first couple of months, which is hard when you're rushing about here there and everywhere. There is also an obsession with getting babies sleeping through - 7pm-7pm seems to be the holy grail. Of course there are bf babies that do this but, again, usually the initial few weeks require cluster feeding and overnight feeds while supply is being established. Ime, breastfeeding is really tough initially but gets much easier. If there was clearer info and help available to navigate the newborn phase I think many more women would be able to continue breastfeeding successfully.

I think there's a lot to be said for how quickly we're turfed out of hospital these days too.

When my mum had me it was normal to be in hospital for 5-7 days after birth but now we're encouraged to go home ASAP.

For most women that means their milk hasn't even come in so those early days struggling with just colostrum make women feel like their baby is starving/they've got no milk and they give up very quickly.

If there was more support in those first few precious days then our feeding rates might improve.

Same as others I failed at BF my first as felt no real support it - oddly I did notice at my NCT (very middle class type ) group all BF except me but in the Antenatal (mix of people) group only 1 did.
With my 2nd I was able to succeed - still didn’t have the support - 1st night in hospital the nurse said my baby was distracting and to leave to ward to sit in a break room I was so upset and in need of help BF - I will never forget it as 1AM the other 3 ladies on the ward i was apparently distracting’ all came and sat with me for support.
My Mum was mortified and when I went to BF sent me to another room 🙄 but they soon got used to it!
It is sad there isn’t a support - once BF is established its easy and more convenient but takes a little time for that to happen.
But it is also Women’s choice what they decide to do without judgement.

For me it was the lack of support. The midwives tried but they were so busy. It needs to be a full time post in maternity units. I also think some new mothers are just knackered! If they took the babies after birth like the old days, so the mothers could get 8 hours kip, I think that would go a really long way. A difficult birth combined with staying awake for days after trying to breastfeed would wipe anyone out, yet new mothers are expected to learn a difficult new skill when physically exhausted. My DH was knackered after the birth (PMSL) so I sent him home to get some kip. I was so anxious I didn’t sleep for days. Needless to say when someone suggested baby needed a bottle, I was so exhausted and broken I would have given them a KFC if it meant I could get some kip. I think an initial catch up after birth could have solved all of that. Sleep is so healing!