Survey aims to identify ways to increase breastfeeding rates

by Sheila Wayman © 2009 irishtimes.com
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.
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