RCN Wales Promotes Breastfeeding
Published: 01 June 2007
The Royal College of Nursing is a member of the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition which seeks to improve awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding and its role in reducing health inequalities. This Coalition of more than 20 different organisations has produced a Breastfeeding Manifesto which lists 7 ways the Government’s of the UK can support breastfeeding.
The RCN is delighted to be a member of this very important Coalition and support wholeheartedly the seven objectives of the Manifesto. Nurses view promoting and protecting breastfeeding as an important public health issue. Breastfeeding is the healthiest way that mothers can feed their babies, because it provides important health benefits to both her and her child. Most health care professionals working in a paediatric environment actively encourages women to breastfeed their babies.
Women who chose to breast feed need clear consistent information and plenty of support from family, friends and health care professionals and we believe these objectives will help achieve this. Breast milk is proven to reduce infections, illness and hospital admissions of babies and children and can save the lives of preterm infants. Breastfeeding can also protect the long term health of women and reduces the risk of breast cancer.
Wales in many ways is leading the UK on breastfeeding. We have had a strategy since 2001 and we also have a national Co-ordinator but there is still more we can achieve.
Not all areas of Wales have a health service champion for breastfeeding and more training of healthcare professionals is needed – particularly for those who work outside maternity services (such as GP’s, practice nurse, specialist community public health nurses) who may well be asked for information and advice on breastfeeding.
We also need support for employers to assist women who want to return to work and would like to continue breastfeeding. Breastfeeding breaks at work are a legal requirement in several European countries.
Scotland of course has passed legislation enshrining women’s right to breastfeed in public and we call on the new Welsh Assembly Government to do likewise. Facilities should encourage and promote breastfeeding, offer privacy and should recognise and reflect the needs of the population.
New research on breastfeeding was unveiled at the Royal College of Nursing's 2007 International Research Conference. This indicated that mothers who breastfeed lying down or in a semi-reclined position may boost their chances of success. Dr Suzanne Colson, senior midwifery lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, based her research on 40 healthy mothers and their healthy full-term babies, all of whom were breastfeeding at six weeks, as well as 14 bottle feeding mother-baby pairs. She found that those mothers who breastfed their infants lying down or semi-reclined in positions that mirrored the feeding positions of other mammals had the greatest success. Dr. Colson said that this new research “challenges the current wisdom of teaching mothers to breastfeed in a fixed system of positioning and attachment.” She welcomes further research on this topic.
For many new mothers breastfeeding can be difficult and challenging. Not being able to do something which is supposed to be as simple and as natural as feeding their own child can leave many new mothers feeling disappointed and let down. By challenging conventional breastfeeding positions, this new research could go a long way to helping those mothers who are experiencing difficulties feeding their infants by suggesting other easy to adopt positions.
As a member of the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition we are working towards a society where:
• Women feel enabled to initiate and continue breastfeeding for as long as they wish
• Parents are supported to make informed choices about feeding their babies
• Everyone is aware of the significant benefits associated with breastfeeding