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

Depends on your circles and area, I think. When I started given one of my children a bottle at about 4 months I felt like everyone was judging and hated doing it. My other children were breastfed for much longer, but extended bf isn't the norm here. I'd say 6-9 months is about the usual with this area. I have a friend elsewhere in the country where it's unusual to breastfeed.

The research on this says, in effect, that it's down to intergenerational support, ie female relatives teaching you to breastfeed, doing everything around the house, making sure you rest, being an emotional support. We don't have that in this country because (a) many people's other relatives FF and (b) more people live further from their families now. The "support" also includes things like nursing a relative's baby to give the mum a break, which isn't socially acceptable here.

It takes a LOT of investment to replace that kind of support. I don't think the NHS gets sometimes that if you have a baby you can't feed, you need help NOW.

Our breastfeeding drop-ins locally were recently cut from 3 a week to 2 a week. The reason given? Other areas only get two a week, so we can't have more, even though we have the funding and lots of mums keen to BF.

There's just a lack of knowledge all round, though. I had a much more unusual BF issue around 12 weeks, which was misdiagnosed because it was rare (can't blame people for that really). But when I was referred to the breast unit, even though they were brilliant, they knew nothing about feeding. I wanted to know if my medical issue would affect my supply and they had no idea at all. Very odd, in my mind.

I agree with all the issues mentioned so far. Lack of support, money for formula, facilities and clean water to make formula, women returning to work and wanting to share the load with other carers...

However... I think in the UK there’s a culture of vanity and women don’t want to do something that has the reputation of ruining your breasts. There’s also a culture of drinking and many women want to drink more alcohol than would be allowed if they were breastfeeding. They want to go back to their previous lives as much as possible and don’t want to be tied to a baby.

Didn't like the idea of it personally - wanted other people to be able to feed baby. Still not convinced breast is best - my baby slept really well from a young age and now never gets ill. Her friend who was breast fed woke loads during the night to be fed and now gets every bug going so bottle all the way!!

This has been really interesting to read. My first baby is due in November and I'm still undecided. I've no idea if I was BF or FF; I've got vague memories of formula being in the house when my siblings were born. I'd really love to give BF a go and I currently live in the Middle East where a lot do but I also only get 6 weeks maternity so I'm not sure that'll be enough to establish patterns etc. although by law I have to be given 2x 30 mins breaks for BF or pumping throughout the work day I'm not sure it'll be enough.

We have a ff culture, an expectation that babies feed then are ok for 4 hours. So when a bf infant cluster feeds and all the thrashing, crying, pawing that entails mother's and their family think it's because baby is hungry and not getting enough from mum.

People don't know what is normal for a breastfed baby.

I also find it really fascinating from a biological perspective - every day the milk is different to respond to the baby’s needs, and can adapt when they’re ill. I had no idea about any of that before I started. I also didn’t know it doesn’t come out of one nipple hole but like a shower head, and can travel an insane distance when the baby unlatches after the milk lets down!

I found the opposite. I BF for two months and felt horribly judged when I swopped to FF. for a number of reasons but if I’m totally honest, a few selfish ones like being able to share the load, getting more sleep, not liking BF in public and the constantness of BF as opposed to a FF routine.

I do sometimes feel sad I didn’t continue. But it just wasn’t right for us at the time and I felt on the edge of PND developing. On the other hand though I find it crazy that some BF friends are so evangelical about feeding, yet happily forward face their children in car seats at the earliest opportunity or feed them junk from a young age. Both of which have just as much detrimental health risks as FF....

I'd imagine it's mainly lack of support both from wider family and breastfeeding services and it is also cultural since many women were encouraged to switch to formula over the past few decades. It can be really hard work to get it going and mothers need to be cared for her while they focus on getting BF established and encouragement to keep going when its painful. New parents are exhausted and often lack wider family support due to where they live, so in a wealthy country with clean water formula is an adequate substitute when struggling and sleep deprived. Back to the cultural side I also think we are quite prudish in the UK (and still associate boobs with sex) and that makes some people feel uncomfortable feeding in public.

@Glamazoni - you’ve made some huge assumptions there as to why people decide to use formula. I decided to from day one - it gave DC’s an excellent start in life. Formula isn’t second rate - it’s an amazing product.

On the other hand though I find it crazy that some BF friends are so evangelical about feeding, yet happily forward face their children in car seats at the earliest opportunity or feed them junk from a young age

No one does things perfect or near perfect and we navigate the pros and cons of everything with imperfect information.

Also have to consider a lot of women breastfeed because it’s cheaper/easier/more environmental for them personally to BF and may not be about health at al!

These are very personal decisions after all ....

I hate to say it but at my worst points I was mostly motivated by not wanting to get out of bed and go down to the kitchen in the night rather than antibodies and diabetes.

@SnuggyBuggy - perfect prep machines are the answer to any ff parents. It’s my biggest regret that they weren’t around when i needed one. I give them as presents to friends having their first baby.

I find it sad that it's poorer mothers more likely to go straight to formula and it's so expensive if you add it up over that first year!

My experience is different it seems from a lot of pps who say there is a culture of FF in this country. I had my babies after several of my friends did and they all BF. I was BF and so was my OH so for us that was our norm. It helped that I was able to take 6 months mat leave each time too. I felt well supported by the midwives in my Welsh rural area (not sure if Wales has a different approach or if it's a rural vs urban thing? They were pro home birth as well) and we had a lovely local breastfeeding group (free) run by committed volunteers. I only had one negative experience BFing in a cafe (older female customer who said it should be done in private, even though I was v. discreet). Not sure- like a pp said it seems very down to culture and socio-economics.

yeah cluster feeding was never explained to me, and when it finally was i was in agony from trying to express more so it was doomed.

I'd definitely get a perfect prep if I FF. I'll never understand how else you feed on demand while waiting 30 minutes for the kettle to cool.

Is there not some uncertainty over the safety of a PP machine? I think I read that in another thread, but don't know any more than that about it. Has anyway else heard anything about that?

There some issues but it came down to people not cleaning them properly or replacing the filters. I’ve given so many of them as presents and no one has reported any problems.

There's been a rise in success in breastfeeding during lockdown (in the UK).

Current theory is that because mums are at home more, and have far fewer visitors they are getting more opportunity to relax and feed baby. There are the hoards of visitors to play pass they baby with.

Parker231....is there also some uncertainty about how hot they are able to get? I think that's from the WHO perhaps. Although anecdotally, people never seem to report issues, as you say.

With my first baby I never even considered formula. All the information as a new mum told me that breastfeeding was the best thing to do. I didnt have a mum to advise me, and I was the first in my friends group to have a baby. The birth of my baby was difficult and I ended up having a c-section. Breast feeding was not the 'natural' process I had researched...it hurt me, it was difficult. I couldn't produce enough milk to satisfy my baby
The worst thing was the shame I felt because I was under the impression that breast feeding was easy, because that was everything that I had prepared for. I'd read that breastfeeding felt like "butterfly wings" rather than the sharp needles I felt. I remember at the beginning of week 2, when it took me an hour at 1am to pump 30ml of milk and the baby drank it all so quickly and then cried for more...but my nipples were bleeding by this point (despite having the support from a specialist nurse) and it hurt so much I couldn't stand it...so my husband drove to the nearest 24 hour supermarket, asking the shop assistant for advice about what we needed...he bought a steriliser, formula, bottles, and we spent all night learning how to use them. It was a nightmare
When the specialist service called .e for feedback I told them how difficult and painful it had been for me. Their response??? "It shouldn't be like that. It certainally shouldn't feel like that." So I felt abnormal. I felt I wasn't meant to be a mum. It was only when my friends started having children that I realised that they were finding it difficult too, and although I was not able to offer them any practical advice, I was able to normalise the situation for them
When the time came for my second baby, my ambition was to breastfeed, but I bought the formula as a back-up. I found it really difficult again, and the baby lost a lot more weight than they should have done...but I managed to (painfully) get the baby up to weight on my own. But it was hard. But I was prepared for it to be hard, so emotionally I was more resilient the second time round - rather than feeling like the worst mother in the world the first time round. Unfortunately breast feeding was a really difficult experience for me. I understand why people prefer to use formula and I completely understand why people find it too painful /emotionally distressing continue trying. But all the while, I envy and respect the women that finally found those elusive butterfly wings.

@Sometimes123 "When the specialist service called .e for feedback I told them how difficult and painful it had been for me. Their response??? "It shouldn't be like that. It certainly shouldn't feel like that."

That's just awful, what a deeply unhelpful thing to say- and they are supposed to be a specialist service I really feel for you and am full of admiration you persevered with the second baby.

I agree that support from other women is crucial, plus a partner who understands and pulls their weight and more.
Sounds like a lot of new mums get the worst of both worlds. They're under pressure to breastfeed and made to feel they've failed when they struggle, yet the support isn't there for them to succeed.

There isn’t a lot of support sometimes. I was so grateful to find my local breastfeeding support group, but it was one hour a week, so if DD was napping, it really wasn’t convenient. That’s not equivalent to having female relatives around or having seen it around you as part of normal life.

I’d never seen anyone breastfeed before I had DD (no relatives with babies, and one of the first out of My friendship group to have a child). It does affect your confidence if it’s not normalised, so little comments can get to you.

I also had some negative comments - my MIL thought it was selfish that I didn’t want to introduce bottles till at least 6 weeks (had read about nipple confusion) because it meant she couldn’t give DD a bottle when she visited, and my DH didn’t get to either. I found that although my NCT group were mostly really keen on it for the first few months, there was a big switch to bottles between 4 & 6 months, and surprise that I didn’t do the same - several women said along the lines of “don’t you want to get your life back?”. I think there is a culture that women get about 6 months to be mothers, and during this time they are supposed to be perfect at it and fully dedicated, but then after that it is expected that you “should” be able to leave baby with a sitter to go out in the evenings, should be preparing for return to work etc.

In my experience and where I live, with the family I have. It’s pure ignorance. I had a few supporters but most thought it was disgusting, shameful and something to be hidden away.
Their attitudes influenced me with my first and I gave up at 3 months, but by the second I was far more belligerent and fed her until she was 2 yrs and 2 months. Hopefully I will feed this little one for as long as possible.