Hansard

Thank you very much for that intervention. It is a very good point—time passes and we perhaps forget some of the legislation that has been passed when we could be making sure that people in our communities are aware of it. Funnily enough, I was at a women’s group earlier today over lunchtime, and I spoke about the 2005 act and how we make legislation work for people in their communities, so that intervention is relevant to me today.

To go back to speaking in general terms, children get one chance at childhood, and it is incumbent on us all, whether we are family members, members of the public or politicians, to do what we can to get it right for every child. From when a child is born, we should ensure that they have the chance to flourish and improve their health and wellbeing over their entire life—I think that all members agree that we should encourage that. At that wonderful moment, we also have the chance to improve the life of the mother. The long-term health benefits of breastfeeding are well documented. It is an amazing opportunity, and the Government must ensure that its approach to breastfeeding champions that fact.

It is clear that improving breastfeeding rates in Scotland would help to improve the health of babies and mothers and reduce inequalities in health, which is why this is such an important debate. Because there is such strong evidence that breastfeeding benefits both mother and baby, there is great value in the Government committing to invest in policies that support and promote it.

Public Health Scotland is clear that breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies and young children and supports children’s health in the short and long term. We have heard that breastfeeding reduces children’s risk of gut, chest and ear infection and leads to small but significant improvement in brain development. Breastfeeding benefits mothers’ health, with strong evidence that it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and some evidence that it may also promote maternal health and healthy weight and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mother are recognised across the world, and it is important to note that that includes high-income countries such as Scotland. At times, that can be questioned. It is perhaps easier to understand the benefits in less developed countries, but western society can overlook the fact that there are clear benefits. UNICEF UK is absolutely clear that increasing the number of babies who are breastfed could cut the incidence of common childhood illnesses, which would not only benefit that individual but could, it estimates, save the NHS across the UK up to £50 million each year. It is interesting that breastfeeding rates in comparable western countries, with similar population sizes and demographics, show that it is possible to dramatically increase rates with political will and a supportive breastfeeding culture. That means that continued investment and commitment from the Government is entirely sensible.

Comparing results can be difficult as many nations across Europe gather details in slightly different ways, but analysing the approach that is taken in countries with positive changes in rates helps to establish what can be done to introduce breastfeeding friendly initiatives. Over the past decade, UNICEF UK has complimented Scotland on its work in this area, highlighting marked improvements in breastfeeding rates, and particularly the rise in breastfeeding at six months—one of the studies that I looked at showed a rise from 32 per cent in 2010 to 43 per cent in 2017. Those results highlight the positive impact of national infant feeding strategies across Scotland, including supporting maternity and community services in Scotland to achieve baby-friendly accreditation—I will come back to that later in my remarks.

The latest figures show that two out of three—66 per cent—of babies born in Scotland in 2022-23 were breastfed for at least some time after birth, while 37 per cent were being breastfed at 10 to 14 days. However, it is thought that the increase in that figure was mainly due to mixed breast and formula feeding.

Although all improvements are welcome, we need to acknowledge that progress is slow and merits strong scrutiny from the Government to ensure that it is committed to on-going improvement. We also need to make sure that the data is easily accessible and user friendly. It is not easy to find like-for-like figures, but such information would be helpful when we are trying to support such initiatives and work constructively with the Government on the issue.

Current guidance recommends that babies should receive just breast milk for the first six months—we have heard that sometimes we are not very good at achieving that—and that solid foods should be introduced after that but that children should continue to be breastfed up until their second birthday or for as long as the mother and baby wish. In Scotland, we have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world and we know that many women are stopping breastfeeding before they want to. We have a responsibility to make sure that that does not happen. As legislators, we must ensure that women have a real choice to breastfeed should they wish to do so.

As I have mentioned before, there is good evidence that interventions can work to improve breastfeeding rates. That is why Scottish Labour lodged its amendment today: to highlight the need to ensure that women have all the levers in place to support breastfeeding. Health visitor services are key to that. We are hopeful that the Government will see the amendment in the way in which it is intended: to nudge it to make commitments to support vital health visitor services across Scotland. Scottish Labour is concerned by reports that health visits for mothers and babies are being reduced due to staffing pressures. The amendment calls on the Scottish Government to guarantee that families are able to fully access the service.

I spoke to several women in preparation for today’s debate and every single woman mentioned to me that there was strong support in the hospital but an absence of support once they got home. If we want to support women to breastfeed—particularly to exclusively breastfeed—we need to have longer-term support, which is something that health visiting guarantees. I acknowledge that a more comprehensive approach is needed, as mentioned by the minister and Tess White. If we do not accept that, in reality, there are funding restraints and that sectors such as the NHS and the third sector are being stripped of funds, we are not doing the debate justice. To make such initiatives work, we need to have in place good training and provision for our health service workers and longer-term funding for the third sector.

I am conscious of time, so I will close by reiterating Scottish Labour’s support for a real choice for mothers to breastfeed. We support the legislation that is in place in Scotland and the schemes that are aimed at ensuring that breastfeeding is embedded in our communities and businesses across Scotland. We hope that the Scottish Government will address the issues that are raised in today’s debate to make breastfeeding a reality for all the mothers and babies who wish to breastfeed and would benefit greatly from it.

I move amendment S6M-11935.1, to insert at end:

“; is concerned by reports that health visits for mothers and babies are being reduced due to staffing pressures, and calls on the Scottish Government to guarantee that every family is able to fully access the Universal Health Visiting Pathway, which consists of 11 home visits to all families, including eight within the first year of life and three Child Health Reviews between 13 months and four to five years.”