Breastfeeding survey reveals ‘awkwardness’

TWO-THIRDS OF women feel embarrassed breastfeeding in front of strangers, while 44 per cent feel awkward feeding in front of friends, a survey suggests.

One in five also feel embarrassed feeding their baby in front of their partner and 45 per cent worry about feeding while their parents are around.

A quarter of 500 women polled for Public Health England (PHE) – 83 per cent of whom breastfed also did not want to breastfeed in front of their other children.

Nearly six out of 10 felt awkward breastfeeding in front of their partner’s family while almost half also had a problem feeding in front of their own siblings and wider family.

But half of women surveyed said celebrities who breastfeed had inspired them to breastfeed themselves.

Figures show that 73 per cent of new mothers start breastfeeding, but this drops to 44 per cent when the baby is six to eightweeks-old. Rates have not really changed in the last five years.

The Start4Life campaign from PHE has launched a new chatbot through Facebook messenger so that new mothers can seek support with breastfeeding 24 hours a day.

Women can open messenger and search for Start4Life Breast Feeding Friend or visit m.me/ Start 4 Life Breast Feeding Friend.

Viv Bennett, chief nurse at PHE, said: “Breastfeeding, while natural, is something that all mums and their babies learn by doing.”

Jacque Gerrard, director for England at the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Getting infant feeding right will help give newborn babies the best possible start in life.

“Women need all the support they can get.”