Paid to Breastfeed: would it have encouraged you to do it?

Nicki

I do/have breastfed - I would have carried on whether the money was offered or not

mrsbrayne wrote: »

My biggest issue is as the main earner I would only be able to take 6 weeks SMP as after this £136 pw won't pay my mortgage etc. Therefore I would hopefully breastfeed for 6 weeks then stop when return to work full time whilst my husband becomes a househusband

Lots of women do mixed feeding in these circumstances. A breastfeed in the morning and at night time and formula when they are at work, so returning to work wouldn't prevent you claiming the money if you wanted to.

Personally I agree with other posters that spending the same amount on decent breastfeeding support would be better. Of women who don't breastfeed, I strongly suspect the vast majority tried and gave up for various reasons not all of which might have been insurmountable with the right help, rather than didn't want to try at all. Certainly these sorts of threads are usually full of stories of difficulties in the first few months whether it is the BF or the FF mothers who are posting.

Gigglepig

mrsbrayne wrote: »

My biggest issue is as the main earner I would only be able to take 6 weeks SMP as after this £136 pw won't pay my mortgage etc. Therefore I would hopefully breastfeed for 6 weeks then stop when return to work full time whilst my husband becomes a househusband

I know ladies who have returned to work quite early and who would breastfeed before/after work, pump while at work and take the milk home in a cooler bag. If this is an option for you, I believe you should get breaks and access to a suitable room to express while at work. Some also stop by the nursery or childminder in their lunch break for an extra feed, but this might be difficult if you have a long commute.

Air_Cooled_75

I agree more money should be spent on support. I actually live in Sheffield and they are pretty pro-breastfeeding here. I did have LO just over the border though. I rang the hospital in tears in the morning (and he also lost a lot of weight) and within a couple of hours the bf midwife was here. She also came everyday for a week or so to see how things were going. I doubt I would have continued if it wasn't for her help, I felt very lucky at the time but on reflection it's how it should be.

However, some women will not even attempt to bf (most of the women I know who just wanted to resume an almost 'no baby' existence as soon as they'd popped) which I think is sad. How did our attitude to bf get so bad?

peachyprice

MoneySavingMamma wrote: »

Why should I be ashamed? Trying is THE RIGHT THING TO DO as is not smoking or drinking when pregnant!

Perhaps we should not judge the mothers of those poor babies that are born addicted to drugs?!

!!!!!!, you're comparing to formula feeding to drugs and alcohol? That's just insane.

Formula feeding isn't the best way to feed a baby, very true, but it's still an acceptable way to feed a baby, it's nothing like using drugs or alcohol in pregnancy, it's not going to harm a baby, it's just not going to as good.

It's a bit like not choosing to have properly fitted shoes, which plenty of earth mothers don't. I've known fair few people who bang on and non about breast feeding, but have ruined their child's feet by putting cheap crap on them, or haven't bothered to look after their children's teeth properly, that's worse than not breastfeeding, ruined feed and teeth are for life.

You wouldn't be able to tell which of my children were BF or FF or for how long, they're all the same, none of them have lesser intelligence, none of them have worse health, none of them have weight issues, they're all the bloody same.

Gigglepig

peachyprice wrote: »

You wouldn't be able to tell which of my children were BF or FF or for how long, they're all the same, none of them have lesser intelligence, none of them have worse health, none of them have weight issues, they're all the bloody same.

How a specific child/children turned out is not relevant -in order to obtain answers to these sort of questions scientists look at larger groups of children. These studies do show statistically significant differences between children that were breastfed vs formula fed.

banyers

I do/have breastfed - I would have carried on whether the money was offered or not

I'm curious as to how it would be policed? I have images of men with clipboards and dirty raincoats peering in windows...

I breastfed my three. Each for 1 year.
I have two daughters one is breastfeeding her daughter my other daughter didn't like it so went onto bottles within a day or so for her daughter.
The surprise came finding out my niece was breastfeeding. Her comment was "all I remember is you saying you wouldn't be getting up messing about with bottles in the middle of the night, just plug 'em in and go".

I never found it hard work at all. Maybe I was lucky. I had no support, didn't know anyone else who breastfed and found it incredibly easy.

I'm sure there are much better things that money could be spent on other than rewarding breastfeeders.

Would it have encouraged me? I wanted to breastfeed, was determined to breastfeed so no it wouldn't. I wouldn't have turned it down though.

dandelionclock30

Gigglepig wrote: »

How a specific child/children turned out is not relevant -in order to obtain answers to these sort of questions scientists look at larger groups of children. These studies do show statistically significant differences between children that were breastfed vs formula fed.

Im quite sceptical of these studies myself as how can you prove empirically that XYZ is due to breastfeeding? Often women who breastfeed are from a higher income group and the advantages the child experiences is due to money/lifestyle not breastfeeding.
Obviously the studies are commissioned by groups wishing to prove that breastfeeding is the best option. So I would really want to see the "evidence" in more detail before I made any decision.

What I think is that the NHS should be putting this money into extra resources for the support of women wishing to breastfeed.
Its a bit of an insult offering £200 as it makes out that women can be bribed about it. Basically it wont make any difference because if people dont want to do it they wont.

At the end of the day its the mothers choice, and she should be given the information and be left to make her own choice based on that. If a woman doesnt want to do it then thats fair enough as its not for everyone. They should be supported not bribed or judged.

SailorSam

I couldn't breastfeed for medical/personal reasons

I've ticked in the Poll that i couldn't breastfeed 'cos of personal reasons. It was the only one that seemed to fit me.

peachyprice

Gigglepig wrote: »

How a specific child/children turned out is not relevant -in order to obtain answers to these sort of questions scientists look at larger groups of children. These studies do show statistically significant differences between children that were breastfed vs formula fed.

Significant difference are as much to do with the socio-economic groups the mothers fall into as how the babies are fed.

It's a known fact that poorly educated, under privileged mothers tend to bottle feed their babies, but these children are never going to attain the same in life as those of a higher socio-economic group. Differences within the same groups of children are not so significant.

There are far more relevant factors than purely how the babies were fed, the same poorly educated, under privileged mothers are also the ones most likely to drink, smoke and use drugs whilst pregnant and around their new born babies.

TeamLowe

I agree with others that I think the money would be put to better use to provide support, as surely there's already a financial incentive in that you save £10/week in the cost of formula not to mention the initial outlay cost of the equipment.

£200 for every pregnant woman would fund a lot of support

The money could also be better used as a study into the reasons why people choose not to start/ to continue breastfeeding once started and this could help shape future policy.