Is this right?!?!?

[Jocasta]

http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/page.asp?page=21

Is this really true?   I knew that breastfeeding rates in the UK weren't great but seriously, is it really true that only 35% of babies are being breastfed at one week?  That can't be right, surely?

[Samuel's mum]

Yep. 35% EXCLUSIVE. Obviously more than that doing any breastfeeding.

% exclusive for the recommended 6 months? 0%

A bit of a way to go, hey?

[lisi's mum]

 

[Purplecattypants]

Well, i'm still ebf at 6 months...nearly 8 even, so I should be added LOL 

[Samuel's mum]

Tick (that's adding Angela to the list
To get to 1% that means 1 in 100 mothers do the same! So let's get on our bicycles with our megaphones (or something).
National Breastfeeding Awareness Week is next week.
http://www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/en/fe/page.asp?n1=2&n2=35
For my 2 cents I'm going to print up some leaflets with details of the local support groups and put piles in local baby shops and cafes where new mums often go.

[Purplecattypants]

Woo hoo go Emma! The bf counsellors at work usually do something for national bf week....will have to see what they have planned. I think last year they went to the local shopping centre and had some sort of small exhibition as it were. I might go along if they're doing it again, and give the people of Blazingsmoke (Pants) a demo on how it should be done lol 

[Mum of 3 + 2 stepkids]

I should be ashamed of myself, i didn't even know it was breast feeding awearness week. But now i will be sure to see whats going on in my area.

Kate x

[Jocasta]

I was on a discussion forum and an Australian lady commented that they had a good take up rate of 80%.  I thought "hmm, surely that's not that good - we must be close to that - most people at least try don't they..."  35% ?!?!?!  I'm still in shock!

I'm definitely going to see if there's anything going on locally for Breastfeeding Awareness Week!

[Samuel's mum]

Take up rate is completely different. Ours is usually around 60-75% depending on social group and area (N.Ireland is always way behind).
This 35% is the exclusive rate at one week. At one week it's 50-60% still doing some breastfeeding in the UK.
It tapers off fast in the first few days - sadly these are the few days when mums get such little access to trained breastfeeding professionals. Midwives training is VERY variable.
But overall Australia's rates are better than ours at every stage.

[Jocasta]

Thanks for clearing that up Emma!  I suppose 50-60% supplementing isn't as bad - babies only need a little amount of bm to receive most of the benefits right? 

I tell you what though, DD2 is 2months old and other than meds, she's only ever had breast milk in her tummy and that really does make me feel proud - third time lucky huh?   I know from experience that breast feeding can be a real struggle and that supplementing is often really necessary.  It still shocked me that so few are still EBF at the one week mark.  We really do need to get some better advice and support out there for all those mums who want to but are struggling. 

I was reading an article the other day that made a point that a doctor who asks a patient if they smoke will have no quarms in pointing out all the dangers of smoking (not in a derogatory way - just to keep his patient informed), but no-one does that when formula is the initial choice of baby nutrition.  I honestly believe that if people were more educated, far more people would make the effort.  I had no idea of all the possible detrimental side affects of formula until recently (in the last month or so).  AND that is only because I've become a little too obsessed with breastfeeding lol! (I guess cause it's working this time).  So I have educated MYSELF!

Not only that, what about all the detrimental side affects to a mother who doesn't breast feed.  I'm not calling them benefits of breast feeding - I was too heavily influenced by a recent article I read

http://www.motherchronicle.com/watchyourlanguage.html

[fiona1274]

I have breast fed all my girls. My first exclusively for 6 months only giving up (very guiltily) to go back to work, I am a police officer and although they do make arrangements so you can express the practicalities of being able to would not have made it very easy. i.e. you could be sent to a call and not be able to come back as you are tied up dealing with something and end up with boobs like melons, not pleasant. My second i didn't do so well with and stopped around 4 months mainly because I didn't think she was eating enough. Turns out she was just really efficient I think. 3rd time round I am doing it again and loving it, I have taken extra time off work this time and a hoping to feed till I go back to work at 9 months.
We live in Fife and I experienced so very strong handed persuasion for BF by the midwives in the ward. One of the ladies in my ward was really struggling and she voiced her opinion on more than one occasion that she needed help and then was left for more than hour struggling to latch on, on her own, she then asked for a bottle and was lectured rather voracioulsy about how she should really try and stick with it!!! It was almost as if they were on commission. I can only hope that this was a one off but I am not so sure.
Thankfully I had great support the first time round and then didn't need as much support the next times for this reason. But I think the EBF rate would be far higher if the appropriate training was in place for the staff.

[Samuel's mum]

I suppose 50-60% supplementing isn't as bad - babies only need a little amount of bm to receive most of the benefits right?

 
To be honest I think it's bloody awful. As to your last point - on these boards I tread a fine line as this is Tracy's site and she was supportive of mixed feeding. But to put it simply the government emphasize the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for a reason.
The main thing for me is the thousands and thousands of women who give up breastfeeding in the first 2 weeks have been let down. Few mums are happy they have stopped and feel good about it all. It is very very rare for a mum to start breastfeeding and plan to only last a week...a fortnight. They are often in pain, stressed and badly advised. Fiona - your experience of hospitals is what I hear A LOT. Staff are busy or informed by their own parenting or poorly advised. Even the well-meaning midwives are often man-handling boobs and giving the oddest advice when it comes to latching on.
The people that manage to find a breastfeeding counsellor have usually gone out of their way to do so. Sometimes it seems to be pure luck. The people that ring my helpline are very often middle-class, well-spoken, internet-savvy. The group that have higher breastfeeding rates. The bfing rates is spookily related to social class - it's so complex but part of that must be to do with education and having the awareness of where to go for help and how to use it effectively.

Have you seen the new Aptimil advert? Wouldn't it be great if it stopped after the first 15 seconds and gave the number for the new national breastfeeding helpline? This new helpline has been operational for about a month and the lack of publicity is laughable.

[Purplecattypants]

Emma, I totally agree! Dont even get me started on baby milk adverts....they should be banned. There are even formula ads in the RCM journal for goodness sake.....a journal, for MIDWIVES, advertising formula  Grrrr makes me MAD! 

Did you know, in Sweden they have to get formula PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR....everyone bf's, its the norm, and if they dont there is a VERY good reason! Why cant it be like that here?

I agree too about the midwives, some of them give terrible bf advice, shocking in fact. A lot of it is to do with lack of time etc, but a lot of its to do with lack of training also.....in the whole 8 years i've been at my current hospital I dont think i've EVER been to a formal bf teaching session  I think lack of care has a LOT to do with poor continuation rates......routine pn visiting is a visit on day 1, day 5 for the pku, and day 10 for discharge. Where I am they are given numbers to contact for bf advice, but tbh I dont think thats enough. So many mums run into problems in that first month that I think there definately needs to be more midwife input (well informed input that is  ). But there arent enough of us unfortunately 

[Samuel's mum]

Wow that's scary about the training! Thanks

It's a bit chicken and egg really with Sweden. That system only works because bf is such the norm, society accepts it as such and support is there. In the UK prescription formula is unworkable in my view because it means mothers waiting several days for GP appointments, speaking to doctors who know zip about bfing and meanwhile babies could literally be starving. It's thought that system in the UK would simply mean young babies being given cow's milk in desperation.
Although I'm a bf counsellor I feel mums have the right to buy it in the shops without hassle. But I want them to be in a position where they are so well-educated and well-supported they don't WANT to do that.
I can dream hey?

[Jocasta]

I probably wouldn't have breast fed Sophie at all if it weren't for one member of staff at the hospital (I guess there is a bright side to us having been referred in after the magical homebirth) who sat with me all night until we finally got Sophie to feed - having said that, it's once again the chicken and egg thing - Sophie's temp dropped and a midwife gave her a bottle of formula as she hadn't nursed in the four hrs since birth.  Looking back - ALL of our breastfeeding struggle could have been down to this one simple act - with all the research I've done lately, the breast feeding relationship can be so fragile when inteferred with - even in the slightest way.  What she should have done was get me to strip Sophie down and have some skin to skin time - this would no doubt have raised her temp AND got her to nurse more effectively...  I guess I'll never know but my supply issues certainly weren't a physiological problem as Mae and I are getting on just fine (I'm even pumping up to 14oz per day for the milk bank!).

I guess a topic for another thread but why aren't milk bank's more advertised either?  I found out by accident - I'd requested a list of mother and toddler groups from my HV when pregnant and in amongst the list was one headed "breastmilk donation"  If I hadn't have been pregnant, that add would have fallen on deaf ears so to speak as DD was already over one year!  Awel was considering pooring her milk away as she'd never heard of donating it until putting a post on here!