Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Breastfeeding: Government Support

08 March 2022 · 4 other contributors · 6,268 words

Opened by Alison Thewliss SNP Glasgow Central

Responding minister: Maria Caulfield

NHS

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Alison Thewliss raised concerns about breastfeeding: government support in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • The lead MP is concerned about the lack of comprehensive breastfeeding support in England.
  • The lead MP asks the government to provide details on the 50 million investment and regulate formula milk marketing.
  • The Minister notes the Government's commitment to breastfeeding support through various programmes and a 300 million funding announcement.

Key requests to Government

The lead MP asks the government to provide more detail on how the £50 million investment will be spent, regulate factors that dissuade breastfeeding such as marketing of infant formula, and explore ways to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding through public education campaigns. She also requests discussions with her colleagues at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport regarding whether formula milk marketing should be brought into the scope of the Online Safety Bill.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Alison Thewliss SNP Glasgow Central

The lead MP is concerned about the lack of comprehensive breastfeeding support, noting that while Scotland has seen an increase in breastfeeding rates due to investment and initiatives such as 'Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly', England's data collection for infant feeding was cancelled. She highlights issues like insufficient antenatal classes during the pandemic, aggressive marketing of formula milk, limited workplace support, and disparities in access to services among different communities.

Other contributors (4)
  • Fleur Anderson Lab Putney

    Ms Anderson raised concerns about the lack of breastfeeding support during and after the pandemic in Wandsworth, highlighting that every health visitor infant feeding team was deployed and all children's centres closed. She mentioned a constituent's struggle to find local clinics for breastfeeding support, noting the closure of the Eileen Lecky clinic permanently without prior notice. The speaker stressed the importance of restoring NHS services and called for networks of trained peer supporters and specialist IBCLC clinics. Ms Anderson intervened to ask the Minister about pre-covid clinic numbers and post-covid service reinstatements, querying whether an assessment had been made of initial services before cuts were implemented.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Commends Alison Thewliss for her work on breastfeeding issues, noting the variation in infant feeding strategies across different parts of the UK and calling for a reinstate of the infant feeding survey with Northern Ireland included. Jim Shannon highlighted the importance of breastfeeding support and thanked Alison Thewliss for bringing attention to the issue. He mentioned the lack of investment in Northern Ireland compared to Scotland and England, noting that the covid pandemic has increased new mothers' isolation. Shannon advocated for the reinstatement of the infant feeding survey and urged the Minister to consider a UK-wide approach involving discussions with devolved Administrations.

  • Karin Smyth Lab Bristol South

    Ms Smyth discussed the importance of breastfeeding support and highlighted the negative impact of cuts to Sure Start centres, which have resulted in a lack of advice for parents. She noted that disadvantaged mothers are more likely to have low birth weight babies, leading to worse health outcomes in later life. Ms Smyth cited analysis from the millennium cohort study showing breastfed children were one to six months ahead of their non-breastfed peers by age five.

  • Kirsty Blackman SNP Aberdeen North

    Kirsty Blackman emphasised the importance of breastfeeding for both babies and mothers, urging the Minister to reinstate the infant feeding survey. She also called for better support of the international code on marketing and advocated for ensuring that all parents have access to information about breastfeeding.

Government Response

Maria Caulfield

The Government are committed to supporting breastfeeding and making support accessible to everyone who needs it. Initiatives include the healthy child programme, maternity transformation programme, NHS long-term plan commitment for accredited infant feeding programmes by 2024, and the best start for life programme. Funding of £300 million has been announced, with initial investments in 75 upper-tier local authorities to improve breastfeeding support services. The Minister also mentions plans to follow up on midwife experiences during the pandemic and is open to collaboration with other nations.

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