Meeting of the Parliament 23 January 2024
I hope to hear the detail on that. I asked a parliamentary question about that and the minister confirmed the position.
Not too long ago, most of our grannies embraced breastfeeding but—sadly—the huge surge in popularity of modern formula brought a significant shift in infant feeding practices. The decline in breastfeeding resulted in a profound loss of knowledge that had previously been shared across families and communities, and the network of support that so many mothers relied on for breastfeeding success disappeared in a short time. I acknowledge the role of artificial formula milk, but it should not be normalised as a convenient like-for-like alternative to breastfeeding, because it is not.
Beyond the well-established nutritional and physical health benefits of breastfeeding, a growing body of research highlights its far-reaching psychological effects—for example, breast milk stimulates cognitive, social and emotional brain development in our babies and children, and those advantages last a lifetime. The benefits are not confined to our children; breastfeeding mothers often report lower levels of anxiety and stress, and clinical evidence backs that.
Breastfeeding has qualities that make it really magical. The very first feed after birth is rightly hailed as a baby’s first vaccination—it is an injection of immunisation from the mum. When a mum or child is sick, breast milk adapts to provide specific antibodies to combat the illness. Morning breast milk has increased cortisol, so that it acts like an energy drink to wake up a child and, in the evening, melatonin rises and acts as a sleeping potion, which helps to develop a baby’s circadian rhythm. Best of all, when mums breastfeed, the love hormone oxytocin is released, which induces a strong sense of love, calm and connectedness between mums and babies.
I know from my work as a breastfeeding peer-support volunteer that many mums look forward to making the magical breastfeeding connection with their baby. Although a tiny number of mums cannot physically breastfeed, many mums feel as if they fail.
Most often, that stems from a lack of intensive support in the crucial early hours, days and weeks post birth. However, until we rebuild our multigenerational network of family and community knowledge, mums will still require the assistance of health professionals and volunteers to overcome challenges such as low milk supply, mastitis and latching issues.