THE HSE IS asking young mothers to help identify what can be done to increase the rate of breastfeeding in the Republic, which has one of the lowest rates in Europe.
The HSE has commissioned researchers at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University College Cork (UCC) to survey mothers with babies under the age of two about their experiences of, and attitudes to, infant feeding. The results will be used to recommend improvements to the breastfeeding support services.
Some 47 per cent of Irish women are breastfeeding when they leave maternity hospital, compared with almost 80 per cent in the UK and close to 100 per cent in the Scandinavian countries.
The initial rate drops rapidly over the following weeks and months, with only 10 per cent of Irish mothers breastfeeding by the time their babies reach six months.
The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to six months, and then its continuation, along with solids, for up to two years.
Some 4,000 questionnaires have been posted out, in association with the parenting resource website eumom.ie, and any other mothers interested in participating in the survey are invited to fill in an online version. The main aim of the research is to improve support for breastfeeding from public health nurses, who are also being asked to answer separate questionnaires, along with directors of public health nursing.
“There is not a strong culture of breastfeeding in Ireland,” explained Helen Mulcahy, a lecturer in the UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery and a member of the survey team. There are a lot of barriers to breastfeeding in public.
Research shows that the attitudes of a woman’s mother and partner are very influential on whether she attempts, and continues, to breastfeed.
“If there are any difficulties, and the people closest to you are not supportive, that is not going to help,” Ms Mulcahy said.
It is important to ask what mothers want in all of this, she stressed. “Maybe breastfeeding is pushed too much, when mothers want to make up their own minds.”
From glancing at comments on questionnaires returned so far, there is a sense, she said, that women are made to feel guilty if they don’t breastfeed.
Results of the survey will highlight the gaps in terms of service, according to Ms Mulcahy, but it is not known if the HSE will be able to act on its recommendations at this time of cutbacks. However, a higher rate of breastfeeding makes economic sense, as its beneficial effects result in savings on health expenditure in the short, medium and long term, she added.
To participate in the survey, see www.eumom.ie or access it directly on www.surveymonkey.com/mothersquestionnaire
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