Councillors back school breastfeeding lessons
TWO Southport councillors have backed a top level call for the benefits of breastfeeding to be taught to every child in the country.
Pat Keith and Richard Hands, who sit on Sefton Council’s overview and scrutiny children, schools and safeguarding committee, have welcomed the initiative from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health which revealed that Britain has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe.
“The health benefits of breastfeeding are huge and indisputable, not just for the baby but also for the mother,” said Cambridge Ward representative Cllr Keith.
“As the Royal College emphasises in its report, we are not doing enough in this country to make the population aware of the importance of breastfeeding.
“If somebody said, ‘here’s a magic potion that will help mothers return to their pre-birth weight quickly, protect a baby from a host of childhood infections and conditions including obesity, and reduce the risk of mothers getting cervical cancer’, it would sell out overnight.
“But breastfeeding does all these things and much more – and it’s free. This is why I totally support the Royal College’s appeal for schools to ensure that pupils are fully aware that this is the natural, healthy way to feed your baby.”
Cllr Hands said: “We must not forget that mothers must have a choice on how they feed their child but that choice should be made with full awareness of the advantages to the baby that breastfeeding provides.
“When children are taught about this at an early age they are more likely to see breastfeeding as a natural process and to develop an open attitude to mothers feeding babies in public.”