Meeting of the Parliament 23 January 2024
It is clear that the Scottish Government recognises that, and that it has helped to increase the number of midwives. Yesterday, I spoke to two in my constituency. It is clear that, to enable mums and families to have the best start, we need to ensure that we have the right number of midwives. Through investment, the Scottish Government has helped to increase those numbers over the past few years.
Hollie McNish’s “Embarrassed”, about her experiences of breastfeeding her baby, is a stark poem, which, it could be argued, calls out some elements of society. I will quote a few lines:
“I spent the first feeding months of her beautiful life
Feeling nervous and awkward and wanting everything right
Surrounded by family ’til I stepped out the house
It took me eight weeks to get the confidence to go into town
Now, the comments around me cut like a knife
As I rush into toilet cubicles feeling nothing like nice
Because I’m giving her milk that’s not in a bottle”.
That powerful poem has made me look at things, and conversations that I have had since reading it have emphasised the powerful words that Hollie used. I recommend that everybody read it.
Scotland should and can do better. That is why, in 2019, we launched our national breastfeeding friendly Scotland scheme. Despite there being laws to support breastfeeding in public—including Scotland’s world-leading legislation on the issue—we still hear too many stories of mothers being stopped from feeding their babies, or feeling uncomfortable in doing so openly.