Paid to breastfeed?

Goodness me what a tide of judgemental bad temper!
There have been trials going on for some time to test whether this is a way to increase breastfeeding. Great efforts are made in the first 24 hours to get mums started but they go out into a world where few friends and relatives have breastfed and they are not well prepared for the fact that it can be a bit tough to get through the first few weeks. Rates of breastfeeding in poorer areas are world-beatlingly dismal with very, very few babies being breastfed for the recommended 6 months. I'm sure all on here, whether they wished to breastfeed or not, or tried to breastfeed or not, would acknowledge that breastfeeding is the healthiest start in life and that cows milk formula, while being a very good and life-saving substitute is second best. That is the reality, backed up by mountains of evidence. So if there is also EVIDENCE based on a very big sample of mums, that if more babies are breastfed for longer when the mums are given a relatively small amount of money, why get all disapproving? Here is teh BBC article
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42280444

This suggestion was clearly by a MAN. I can’t seriously think any woman would do it for money. Whatever are we coming to.

Wet nurses used to. Based on the title of the thread, I thought that that was what this was about. Sorry. It's an important discussion.

Surely the savings that people make on bottles and formula is payment enough for breast feeding?

Why on earth would you a pay the mother to breast feed her own child? If she wants to do it she would do so voluntarily if she feels so inclined. Some mother's simply cannot breast feed however much they may want, while others out of personal choice choose to bottle feed. Yes we know all the benefits of breast feeding to both mother and baby, but it does not mean that bottle fed babies do not thrive. Too many mums are made to feel very guilty if not breast feeding. Let them make their own decisions based on their own choice and not incentivised by money.

If you actually read the article and the experience of the woman interviewed it isn't just a question of giving out vouchers, there is a programme of support and incentives to help the woman. Anything that promotes and encourages breast feeding should surely be welcomed. Our rates are appalling. The number of women who cannot breast-feed is extremely small and most simply don't understand how it works and just give up. Providing them with a counterargument to all the voices telling a new mum to 'just put him/her on the bottle' is vital. As has been shown by some of the very angry posts on here.

I feel very conflicted on this. I'll declare an interest; when my children were young I trained as an NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor, so I'm clearly very pro.

I am shocked at the statement that the UK has the lowest breastfeeding rate in the world. There should be no physiological reason for this. Yes, there are people who are unable to breastfeed but, even allowing for the fact that in the past the genetic inability to breastfeed would have meant that girl children who inherited that inability would be less likely to thrive (or even survive) and have children of their own, while, now, with decades of bottlefeeding behind us, together with improvements in formula, they do survive to pass the inability on to their children, I cannot believe that the UK has more mothers than anywhere else in the world who are unable to breastfeed. So there must be cultural reasons for such a low rate.

Of course, culture is very difficult to change; it might just be that a financial incentive has sufficient clout to change some minds. I'd be interested to know if this proposed initiative is based on any studies which show that it increases breastfeeding rates.

But I think another aspect is the quality of support that a mother gets if she's having difficulties. I know that it is being well promoted from the medical side (midwives, health visitors) but peer pressure and family are very influential. If you are struggling in the first few weeks with your first baby (and I know, from experience, how much determination is needed to persist)and you are surrounded by family and friends who have all bottle fed it is far more likely that you will give up with their approval; and it is their approval that counts far more than does the approval of midwives and health visitors. This was a problem 30+ years ago when I was counselling and it doesn't appear to have got any easier.

So, if studies show that a financial incentive has a positive effect then I think it is worth a try, regardless of the expense. There are worse things that the money could be spent on.

I breast fed daughter1, daughter2 was raced off to intensive care when four days old, i waddled around with cabbage leaves in my nursing bra

I think payment is wrong, as had been said those who want to and can, will. Those who don't won't. It was the norm in the 40s and 50s. At risk of stereotyping, its often yummy mummies (no offence meant) who do and perhaps a slightly more deprived lower income type who don't. (Dons tin helmet and ducks behind wall)

I would think that this is targeted at very young mothers, teenagers in particular who have extremely low breastfeeding rates.
They need extended support from midwives, health visitors and counsellors. But younger mums want to be out and about and are uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public. Perhaps in Britain we are less accepting of breastfeeding in public places?

Apparently, young mums see breastfeeding as "not normal"!

Another issue that makes me think the world has gone mad. Some will take the money/vouchers, even if they were going to breastfeed anyway. Some will take it and stop breastfeeding soon after. Can’t we just let new Mums make their own decisions and put all that money to better use in the nhs.

I wonder if payments could be backdated ?
I breastfed my 3 children each until around 1 year old. I had the smallest breasts in the world but produced more milk than a cow, so nd I also donated milk to the premature baby unit, collected by the hospital each day.
I could be worth a fortune ?

I've never heard of anything so daft!
Paid by who? The tax payer?
I honestly can't get my head around the ludicrous suggestions that are put forward these days - are these people on drugs?

Maybe instead of payment, a more positive educational programme. There are so many advantages, among them, not having to get up in the middle of the night to make a bottle.
My DiL was unable to have children. They moved to India where they are adopting some babies. With the last one she followed an internet programme and was actually able to lactate - not much, but it was the real thing.

Perhaps we should go back to wet nurses and let them be paid instead. It seems the logical to me.

I would query the statistics that we have appalling breast feeding rates in the UK. If asked my DM, myself and my DDs would all say we bottle fed when in fact we did breast and bottle for around three months, there being insufficient to keep a baby fed and happy. Persistence didn’t help or make a difference. 100 years ago we would have nipped down the road to get a top up from a more fortunately blessed mum.

But younger mums want to be out and about and are uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public.

Do you think that this is more a perception they have, rather than the fact that the general public is (or isn't) bothered by women breastfeeding in public?

My DD had no problem with breastfeeding in public (discreetly, but it was obvious what she was doing) and no-one ever objected.

Perhaps we should have a sister thread on how people feel about mums breastfeeding in public. Because it feels to me that this is partly a question of 'is young mums' 'perception' valid'?

I'm not too sure that wet nursing was quite as common among the 'ordinary' populace as people think. But If anyone has any data on that I'd be interested to see it.

Wet nursing was mostly for those who could afford it, surely?

It surprises me how many women say they cannot feed their children naturally. If there wasn't an alternative then I am willing to bet they would persevere.

As people can't be bothered to read the actual article it isn't just about vouchers. Mum involved says
The scheme is a really good way of keeping going - keeping motivated to stay on track rather than giving up and going for the bottle.
It provides little milestones, little stepping stones and helps you get breastfeeding established.
Surely something we should applaud?

Apologies, trisher, I hadn't read it. So was it an actual study that was being reported; and it worked.

Good.

I, and my daughters breastfed in public (discreetly), but according to studies, many young mums feel it's not 'a normal thing' to breastfeed in their social group. It's their perception.

'Young girls my age, you just see them with their bottles really…I don’t think I’ve seen any girls breastfeeding when I’ve been out anywhere.’
Anya, 20 years, baby aged 7 months’.
‘Midwives and doctors they try and persuade you to do it because it is classed as a normal thing…but I don’t know.’
Hester, 17 years, pregnant.
eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16500/1/v7%20with%20title%20page%20%27a%20normal%20thing%27.docx

Perhaps nursing mothers are too discreet!

That's fine MaizieD I think the OP is a bit misleading as well. It was a study and seems to have dom=ne some good (but not as much as I would like to see)

As breast fed babies are more likely to be healthier throughout their lifetime I'd think it would make sense to pay mums to breast feed more and for longer - giving a future saving on healthcare costs for the NHS.

Maisie and JessM have expressed to well how I feel. At first, it made me jump - but if it can help, why not. But perhaps better to pay to get more trained support for mums, in hospital and after.

mostlyharmless- I never breastfed in public (BF both of mine to about 10 months - very hard with first one after an emergency section (transversal breech)- because it was just not acceptable in those days.

When DD1 had her first baby, I went to pick her up from Surrey to go to Leics as her OH had to go away. At the MWay service station, a baby feeding area was advertised - it was in fact an area with a microwave for bottles. When I asked where she could nurse- they said 'there is a chair in the toilets' ...

I breastfed in public (discreetly) nearly forty years ago. Using a scarf or a cardi it's hardly noticeable. My daughters have done the same.
But I was trying to say that teenage mums may respond to a money incentive as they don't see breastfeeding as "normal".