George on Breast Milk

OK:

So how well do we do? About as badly as a developed nation can. In a
recent survey of 16 European countries, the UK comes second to last,
beating only Belgium. When our babies are six months old, just 21%
receive any breastmilk, while in Norway the rate is 80%; 24% of British
babies never taste breastmilk at all – in Norway it’s 2%. Remember this
next time someone tells you that the rate can’t be increased because
lots of women can’t produce milk. The constraint is not biological but
political. The Norwegian government has passed laws that make
breastfeeding as easy as possible: all women are entitled to a year’s
maternity leave on 80% pay, and state employees are given special
breastfeeding breaks.

And British women get 39 weeks maternity leave at 90% (with a cap) of their pay. So your point is?

3 responses

  1. Tim, the cap is about £450pcm nationwide.

  2. The constraint is not political, but social. Lots of mothers work full-time jobs, pump milk during the daytime and breastfeed at night.
    Similarly, lots of mothers don’t work, but feed their babies formula. It would be much easier and cheaper for these women, at least, to breastfeed, but they have chosen not to. Some women give up because it hurts too much (usually a latch problem, which can be easily fixed, but not always), other women don’t breastfeed because they and/or their partners consider breasts as sexual objects and don’t want to squirt milk at an unfortunate moment, some chose to bottle-feed so that a partner can share the feedings, etc.
    There is no real remaining impediment to breastfeeding at the moment – it’s a question of choice.

  3. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    A slogan is required. How about “You squirt, or your baby will grow up to be a squirt”? Just a first draft.

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