Breastfeeding Awareness Week 11-17 May 2008

21 April 2008

Research clearly shows us that breastfeeding has many benefits both for mother and baby, yet around the country we see low rates of breastfeeding, particularly in areas of deprivation.

The Scottish Government's Better Health, Better Care Action Plan 2007 noted that one of the key areas where parents influence child health during pregnancy, the early years and beyond is food and nutrition. As a result, NHS Boards have been targeted to increase the proportion of newborn children exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks from 26.6% in 2006/07 to 33.3% in 2010/11.

So what is Health Scotland doing to assist NHS Boards to improve their rates during and beyond breastfeeding awareness week? We are planning a number of activities over the coming year. In the run up to BAW, we are reviewing some of our current breastfeeding resources with focus groups made up of women from our target audience.

The feedback obtained will be used to inform future work, which may be anything from wider distribution of materials to re-running the TV advert 'Obvious Café'. All these materials promote breastfeeding in general and aim to increase women's confidence to do so in and out of the home. In addition, local NHS Boards are synergising PR activity during BAW, again focusing on increasing women's confidence about breastfeeding and highlighting the importance of the support of the partner.

We have also been doing work with Best Beginnings, Department of Health, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Health Promotion Agency to develop a breastfeeding DVD for pregnant women. This has been tested across the UK with groups of young women, and is a very practical 'how to' guide to breastfeeding. This will be launched after BAW and we will be asking midwifes to distribute it to women during their antenatal appointments.

Later in the year we are planning an action-oriented conference on breastfeeding with practitioners across the country. More information about that will be provided later in the year.

For more information on anything, please contact Helen Ryall, Programme Manager: Early Years.

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