Breast mums missing out on support

BREASTFEEDING mums in Scotland are missing out on peer support that can give them confidence to breastfeed, new figures have revealed.

The number of Scots mums exclusively breastfeeding at the first health visit fell this year to just 35% – lower now than a decade ago.

The World Health Organisation and UK watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommend that breastfeeding mothers get help from trained volunteer mums who have experience of breastfeeding.

But fresh figures show the provision of peer support services is patchy – experts say it’s a postcode lottery that is leaving many without the one-to-one help they need.

The findings show a significant reduction in peer support in at least half of health boards. And 25% reported high drop-off rates of trained peer support volunteers resulting in less mums accessing support.

NHS Orkney trained no peer supporters last year and Western Isles has trained none since 2014. NHS Lothian trained no peer supporters in 2015/16 and published a review admitting this was ‘unsustainable’.

Only 18% of mums accessed help from a peer supporter in Grampian.

Figures showed pockets of recent investment in some areas including Forth Valley and Lanarkshire with more mums getting extra one-toone help from paid breastfeeding supporters as well as peer support volunteers.

But in a quarter of areas budgets for community support for breastfeeding saw cuts, some of up to 50%.

The Breastfeeding Network provides trained peer supporters at 20 weekly community based groups across Glasgow, Fife and Ayrshire.

In March this year the charity stopped vital peer support in the wards at maternity unit in Aryshire after loss of grant funding – up to 1000 mums a year will miss out on help.