End of the breast feeding tyranny
Midwives will help mothers who choose bottle
NEW mothers will no longer be made to feel guilty for not breastfeeding.
In a major policy shift, they will be offered the same help with bottle-feeding as those who give their babies breastmilk.
The Royal College of Midwives says the change of approach acknowledges the fact that many women cannot breastfeed, or do not want to. Its new guidelines say midwives must respect a mother’s decision.
In the past the college has championed the benefits of breastfeeding, urging its exclusive use for the first six months.
Only a third of British mothers achieve this target, making for one of the lowest rates in the world. The ‘breast is best’ approach, endorsed by the NHS and the World Health Organisation, has been blamed for making some feel inadequate.
Those who want to breastfeed, but are unable to, are up to two-and-ahalf times more at risk of post-natal depression.
Gill Walton of the RCM said: ‘We want to respect women’s choices and make sure they have the right information and support to either mixedfeed their babies or formula feed their babies.
‘We would focus on the risks and benefits of both breastfeeding and formula feeding – and help them do that – rather than say, “Oh, this mother’s decided to formula feed, we’re not going to help her”.
‘That’s not right. Women have reported to us that sometimes the advice and support has been lacking to formula feed or they can’t breastfeed.’ Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits for a baby and has been shown to prevent infections, reduce the risk of obesity and even boost IQ.
In Britain only 34 per cent are still giving their babies any
‘Want to respect women’s choices’
breastmilk at six months, including just 1 per cent who exclusively breastfeed.
This compares with 73 per cent in Norway, 62.5 per cent in Sweden and 49 per cent in the United States. Some women find the process painful or worry about breastfeeding in public.
The RCM’s new breastfeeding ‘position statement’ instructs midwives to give women proper advice about formula feeding, including how to sterilise bottles.
The guidance still encourages midwives to promote the benefits of breastfeeding, but they must ‘respect’ and ‘support’ women who opt not to.
The recommendations have been broadly welcomed by parenting charities, including the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), which has been criticised for its zealous breastfeeding stance. Abi Wood of the NCT said: ‘We wholeheartedly support the RCM’s new statement, which tallies with our position.’
Lauren Marks-Clee, 31, founder of the website The Parenting Chapter, who developed post-natal depression after struggling to breastfeed, said: ‘The change in position is a much-needed step towards parents having choice, but without as much guilt, when it comes to how they feed their babies.’
The Scottish Government said: ‘Women should be at the centre of their own care.
‘We have invested more than £15.8million to support mothers [and] appointed a national expert to advise NHS boards on the highest standards of support for breastfeeding mothers.
‘We also provide every pregnant woman with a breastfeeding information pamphlet, and launched the feedgood. scot website, which helps families make the right feeding choice for them.’