Later this month there will be a week dedicated to the promotion of breastfeeding and its benefits – but it won’t be receiving the vital financial support it has come to expect from the Government. Sam Wonfor reports
IF you search for the word breastfeeding in The Journal’s picture library, you’re faced with a boatload of photographs of happy mums and babies doing the most natural thing in the world.
Many of these pictures were taken during National Breastfeeding Week (NBW), which for the past 18 years has been dedicated to promoting, encouraging and celebrating breastfeeding, while offering a rich source of information and resources for new and soon-to-be mums.
This year’s week-long event will kick off on June 19, but it will be going ahead without the financial support of the Government.
Back in April, the Department of Health, responsible for launching the event in 1993, announced that it would be withdrawing its funding as part of efforts to reduce the deficit.
And although the decision didn’t spell the end of NBW, those who work tirelessly, and often voluntarily, to support breastfeeding mums have voiced strong concerns as to the immediate impact of these cuts, the signal they send and the longer-term implications on the number of women who choose to breastfeed their babies.
In the North East, we have the lowest breastfeeding rates in England, both in terms of the number of new mums who start breastfeeding after the birth, and the number who are still breastfeeding after six to eight weeks.
“It’s statistics like that which make things like National Breastfeeding Week so important in the region,” says Newcastle-based breastfeeding peer supporter Helen Preen, who also co-invented the breastvest (www.breastvest.co.uk), a piece of nursing underwear which promises women more body confidence when feeding their babies, making it easier for them to feed for longer.
“Raising awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and the support which is available to help mums when they might be finding it tough is so important and, by definition, was what made NBW an integral part of the activity aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates.
“The fact that the Government have seen fit to withdraw the funding is a clear indicator that it is not a clear priority for them.”
Emma Pickett is a counsellor for Association of Breastfeeding Mothers and also works as a volunteer on the National Breastfeeding Helpline.
She says: “These are scary times because the signal that this decision sends is that they think breastfeeding is an area which can be cut.
“Not just have its funding reduced, but have it cut.
“Many of us who work for the helpline are seriously concerned about its future too, which is currently under a process of evaluation.
“The area of breastfeeding support already relies heavily on volunteer work and the Government really do take advantage of the voluntary sector.”