World Brestfeeding Week 2018

To start this blog I’d like to quote UNICEF, who said ‘breastfeeding is a highly emotive subject in the UK because so many families have not breastfed, or have experienced the trauma of trying very hard to breastfeed and not succeeding. The pain felt by so many parents at any implication that they have not done the best for their child can close down conversation. It is time to stop laying the blame for the UK’s low breastfeeding rates in the laps of individual women and instead acknowledge that this is a public health imperative for which government, policy makers, communities and families all share responsibility.’

Last week was World Breastfeeding Week. I wrote a post and for fear of backlash, never shared it. I’m sharing it now.

Why do we need a whole week dedicated to talking about something so natural? You’d be on my wavelength if your first thought was ‘it’s 2018- are we STILL having to convince people of this?!’. It seems that everytime we’re getting somewhere and the rate of breastfeeding Mother’s in the UK starts to rise, something happens to make it dwindle again. This time, I blame the ‘fed is best’ campaign. On the outside, it appeared as a ‘movement’ to promote inclusivity between breastfeeding and formula feeding mums, using the notion that a fed baby is a healthy baby. But once you start picking into the details of it, it became very clear that ‘fed is best’ was not all it was cracked up to be. Now, as it’s World Breastfeeding Week, I won’t be talking about formula here – being pro-breastfeeding does not make me anti-formula or any other alternative options; I fully believe that it has its place, but that’s not for this post. Fed is best was brought in off the back of ‘breast is best’, and very bravely suggests that rather than debating how babies should be fed, we should be comforted by the notion that we are able to feed our babies at all.

Fed is best was started by Dr. del Castillo Hegyi, whose child suffered dehydration in the first few days of life and subsequently, has been diagnosed with multiple developmental challenges including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD. If you want to read more about Fed is Best and why it’s not as cut-and-dry as they try to make themselves sound, there’s a fabulous blog by MamaBanana’s (http://mamabananasadventures.com/2017/03/the-truth-about-fed-is-best.html) that is well-worth a read!

So, let’s get onto these magic boobs!

Breastmilk is biologically-tailored nutrition. It’s designed by our bodies to nourish our babies. It’s not an alternative method of feeding; it is the main method of feeding. There are so many benefits to breastfeeding that I didn’t want to start listing them for fear of being here all day, but you know what, that’s what World BF Week was all about…so here goes…

1. Baby will have altogether better short and long-term health
2. Reduced risk of SIDS
3. Helps your womb contract after delivery
4. Less likelihood of obesity for both Mum and Baby
5. Helps mum return to pre-pregnancy weight
6. Reduces risk of some cancers for both Mum and Baby
7. Breastmilk changes composition according to baby’s needs
8. Breastfeeding promotes food tolerance
9. Protective effect against postnatal depression
10. It’s free! It costs nothing, except maybe breastpads and chocolate…
11. It creates a lovely opportunity to bond (of course, this is applicable to bottle feeders too)
12. It releases oxytocin, the love hormone, which helps you relax!
13. Breastfeeding Mums can burn an extra 500 calories a day
14. Breastfeeding Mums sleep an average of 45 minutes more a night than those using formula
15. Breastmilk contains antibodies – it’s their first line of defence!
16. It could save the NHS up to £50 million each year through reducing ear, chest and gut infections

  

At present, 81% of new Mothers attempt to breastfeed at birth. By 6 weeks post-partum, that statistic drops to 24% and by 6 months it’s at 1%. In order to create this positive change that we keep wishing for, it’s important that we start looking at the future – our children’s perception of breastfeeding – and normalising it so breastfeeding becomes the no-brainer choice for feeding baby. But getting people to choose to breastfeed isn’t easy when people like Fed is Best feed us horror story after horror story about the many issues some breastfeeding mothers face, and the health problems a very small amount of babies have faced. Cows-milk protein allergies, mastitis, blocked ducts, thrush, pain, the list goes on, and it’s easy to see why people would give up at the first hurdle with the stress of having just had a baby overshadowing everything else.

The answer here is to shout from the rooftops how beneficial breastmilk is, and empower women to want to choose what’s best, not what seems easiest (which, by the way, is always a hilarious comment I read – I’m sure popping a boob out is far easier than sterilising bottles at 1am, checking milk temperature, measuring formula, etc. I’m not sure where people think either methods are easy by any standard). So I've done my bit. For the last two months, I have been training as a breastfeeding peer supporter. I can honestly say it's been the most eye-opening experience, and I have learnt so much, and now I feel ready to go out into the community and help empower other Mums to feel confident in breastfeeding. 

As MamaBanana said, if you don’t believe in this campaign, that’s okay - just don’t blow out the candles on a birthday cake that’s not yours.

This is our week, let us have it.