Breastfeeding – it is more than just food…
But the responsibility for the acceptance, encouragement and support of breastfeeding needs to change from just being directed at the parents.
Unicef UK’s Baby Friendly Initiative is calling on the UK and devolved governments to take urgent steps to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in the UK.
It is time to shift responsibility for tackling this public health issue away from individual parents, and change the conversation away from guilt and blame.
Instead, we need to acknowledge the role we can all play in creating a supportive, informed environment for all parents, enabling mothers to breastfeed for as long as they wish.
Breastfeeding – it is more than just food
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Sadly many parents are simply not confident about breastfeeding, with one of the biggest worries for new mums being that they’re not producing enough milk.
But a newborn’s stomach is only the size of a cherry and therefore can only take a very small amount of milk at each feed in the early days.
Unfounded worry like this could be avoided if more women were given this information around the time of the birth of their baby.
Despite Department of Health recommendations that babies should be breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life, the UK has the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe and this is in part due to a lack of confidence in women that they can breastfeed.
Unicef – #BFICalltoAction campaign
Unicef Call to Action campaign for breastfeeding is urging the UK and devolved governments to take four key steps to create a supportive, enabling environment for women who want to breastfeed.
Read more about the key steps here: www.unicef.uk/bficalltoaction[/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]