Breastfeeding Awareness Week
Breastfeeding Awareness Week highlights the support available for mothers.
Breastfeeding Awareness Week gets underway on Sunday with the announcement of the first Scottish Infant Feeding Survey.
The IFS was previously carried out across the UK every five years, but last year the other three UK governments announced that they would no longer participate.
The Scottish Government sees the survey as a valuable resource, providing data which informs the work of many early years organisations, allows support to be targeted in appropriate areas and helps to evaluate the impact of interventions, education and other key work. Further details of the SIFS will be announced later in the year.
This week sees the launch of a number of updated resources for parents and health professionals. “Off to a good start – all you need to know about breastfeeding” has lots of information for pregnant women, while the breastfeeding pathway template can be customised for individual families to describe local support mechanisms and provision. The “feedgood factor” website has been upgraded, and work on this will continue following consultation with parents and professionals.
The week also marks the 10th anniversary of the Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2005, which reassures mothers that they will be protected and that breastfeeding is welcome in Scotland’s public places.
A series of events are being held across Scotland with the underlying theme of supporting mothers who choose to breastfeed, without putting pressure on them.
Public Health Minister Maureen Watt said:
“The birth of a child is such a precious time, and we want to make things as simple as possible for new mothers so they don’t feel under pressure or overwhelmed.
“Mothers make their choices based on their own set of circumstances – our aim this week is to strengthen and sign post the support that all women receive. I’m looking forward to meeting some of those women this week, hearing about their experiences and finding out what more we can do to assist them.
“We’ve already seen significant work and effort this year including, in February, the Scotland-wide Breastfeeding Summit. We want to build on the work done there, strengthening the support network across the country.
“The launch of the Scottish Infant Feeding Survey shows that breastfeeding remains high on the Scottish Government’s public health agenda, backed up by our fantastic selection of online resources for pregnant women, new mothers and the dedicated professionals who support them.”
