National Strategy:
Include actions to promote, protect and support breastfeeding in all policy areas where breastfeeding has an impact. This includes: obesity, diabetes and cancer reduction; emotional attachment and subsequent school readiness; improved maternal and child mental health; wellbeing in the workplace; and environmental sustainability.
Priorities
Good practice guidance identifies that breast milk is considered the physiological norm of nutrition for infants and can provide wider benefits to further promote the bond between mother and baby. Some of the key evidence based benefits of breastfeeding are summarised below:
Baby
• Children who are breastfed for longer periods have lower infectious morbidity (including diarrhoea and vomiting) and lower risk of infant mortality
• Less risk of constipation
• Reduced likelihood of becoming obese or developing type 2 diabetes or other obesity related conditions later in life
Mother
• Reduced risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer
• Reduced risk of diabetes
• Develops stronger relationship bonds through skin touch between mother and baby
• It is a free resource and readily available
To gain the maximum benefits of breastfeeding the World Health Organization recommends an exclusive breastfeeding period for the first six months of life and continuing to breastfeed for at least two years.
West Midlands
• Breastfeeding initiation is significantly lower in the West Midlands compared to the England averages between 2010 and 2015
• Initiation rates between Local Authorities within West Midlands range from 48% to 77% out of all maternities during 2014/15
Key risks of lower breastfeeding uptake:
• Younger age of mother with those aged under 20 years the least likely to breastfeed.
• Mothers who are from a white ethnic background.
• Mothers who have never worked or employed in a routine or manual occupation (classified as lower socio-economic status).
• Younger age left full time education with mothers who left at or before 16 years least likely to breastfeed.
• Mothers in the most deprived quintile of society (classified as being in quintile 1 of the Index of Multiple Deprivation IMD calculation).
Patterns and associations of breastfeeding prevalence:
• Breastfeeding prevalence rates in England in 2010 were higher for each risk factor group compared to 2005 data for each reported period from time of birth to nine months.
• Breastfeeding prevalence dropped at an increased rate after two weeks from birth for all key risk indicator groups. At six months, roughly one third of mothers were still breastfeeding.
• The largest difference in breastfeeding prevalence is associated with age of the mother followed by age the mother left full time education and then socio-economic status and deprivation respectively.
Awareness of health benefits of breastfeeding:
• An inverse association is demonstrated between awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding and younger age of mother, mothers classified as Asian or black, those in a lower socio-economic status and mothers who were intending to only formula feed or who had not yet made a decision.
• Mothers from a white ethnic background reported the most awareness but are the highest ethnic risk group to not breastfeed.
Information sharing:
• The groups least likely to receive information about the health benefits of breastfeeding include mothers aged under 20 years and those who have never worked.
• There is no significant difference between ethnicity and receipt of breastfeeding information.
• For all groups there are a low proportion of women who reported attending antenatal classes where infant feeding was discussed.
Please see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCeenfwBxQ
A film made by rb&hArts – the Charitable trust an partner at Royal Brompton Hospital.