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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers” (WHO, 2001). The sucking reflex in involved in helping the babies to suck and swallow the milk (Morton et al., 2005). The effects of breastfeeding on the health of the infants, is vast. Many studies were performed to study the impact of breast feeding on the maternal and infant health, in the countries that are developed. In a cohort study conducted by Ip et al (2007), a meta analysis based study was performed. The results of the demonstrated that the activity of breastfeeding was accompanied with the reduction in the risk of acute otitis media, infections of the lower respiratory tract and non specific gastroenteritis and even asthma and SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). However, there was no significant relationship between the infancy term and cognitive development. The relationship between cardiovascular diseases and breastfeeding was also not clear. As far as the maternal health outcomes were concerned, the breastfeeding history said that the mothers who breastfed, had reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer and breast cancer (Ip et al., 2007).
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The statistics of women who breastfeed in UK is around 80% (Information Centre for Health and Social Care, 2011). There has been a steady increase in the percentage since 1990 and this increase can be attributed to the increase in the general awareness of the impact of breastfeeding on the health of the mother as well as the infant (UNICEF UK BFI, 2001; Department of Health, 2007). However, the rate of increase in the number of women who still breastfed, after six month of birth of their child, was low between 2000-2005. The rates of women who indulged in exclusive breastfeeding was less than 45% (one week post birth) and even less than 1% were doing so at the time of six months post birth (Bolling et al., 2007). 90% of the women who stop breastfeeding owe this to their intentions about breastfeeding as they stop this even before they think they would. In UK, the statistics say that around 75% of the babies receive no breastmilk at all, by 5 months of age (Lee, 2007). According to the Baby friendly initiative, the rate of babies who are breastfed in UK rose by 5% i,e. from 76% to 81%, Compared to the rates of breastfeeding in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, England had the highest rate of 83% (as recorded in 2010 (The baby friendly initiative, 2010). If we look into the statistical data and report for Wolverhampton, the major finding has been that 45.2% of the school going children belong to the black or minority ethnic group. The rate of health and well being of the children is worse than the rates prevalent in England. In wolverhampton, 40% of thw woman breast feed at 6 to 8 months. But his rate is lower than the number of women breastfeeding in England. 65.4% of the women start breastfeeding when their baby is born. But in this area, the percentage of babies who are ever breastfed is very less when compared with the percentage of Europe, that being 89.1% (Chimat, 2013). When the rate of breastfeeding in Wolverhamptom is compared to the breastfeeding rate in other countries, it can be said, that in other countries like Brazil, Fortaleza, etc, the rate is lower. In Brazil, around 47.5% women indulge in exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month and this rate decreases sharply to 7.7% at 6 months. Fortaleza, however, has higher rates, with 73.4% women indulging in breastfeeding at 1 month and this decreases to 10.2% at 6 months (Henry et al., 2010).
The government has implemented many breasfeeding promotion programs that have impacted the women in such a way that the rates of breastfeeding have increased significantly. The Breastfeeding manifesto coalition aims for a society where the women feel capable and are able to initiate and continue breastfeeding for as long as possible, there is constant support for the parents to make choices regarding the feeding of their babies and the society is well aware of the benefits of human milk. This manifesto was introduced in 2006 by collaboration among twenty UK based organizations and all these organizations worked in promoting awareness regarding the health benefits of breastfeeding (The coalition, 2006).
The general fact about breastfeeding is that this milk is the best form of milk for the new born baby but the literature based evidence suggests that the percentage of mother who prefer breastfeeding is low as compared to the mothers who switch to bottle feeding within the first 6 months of the birth of the baby. Although the factors contributing to this change in preference are partially defined, the research based studies have suggested few possible factors. In a study conducted in 1979, the results depicted several factors contributing to decline in the awareness of importance of breast milk. But the results could be used in future research as they provided the natural history of breast feeding and also provided the guidelines based on which breastfeeding promotion program could be designed. Other related studies have found out that the demographic factors are same for both, the mother who breastfeed and the mothers who bottle feed. However, the studies have revealed three major differences: the impact of lifestyle, the impact of education and the conditioning. The mothers who breast fed were more likely to work outside home and were social drinkers but did not smoke. Secondly, the parents of the babies who were breast fed, were mostly university graduates. And lastly, the conditioning of the parents of the babies who were breast fed, was better as they were found to be ready to take up the responsibility of the parenthood more sincerely (Rousseau et al., 1982).
In another study, the impact of modifiable factors, on breastfeeding was observed and it was found that the major contributing factors are: the intention of breastfeeding, self efficacy of breast feeding, and the social support for the mothers. The breastfeeding midwifery promotion programs, that already have been implemented, have a strong social support for the new mothers but lack modification of the self efficacy or the ability to drive the intention of breastfeeding towards a positive direction (Meedya, S., Fahy, K and Kable, A., 2010). There are many factors- demographic, social, environmental and cultural, that affect the initiation of breastfeeding. The demographic factors include the maternal age and the level of her education. The older and highly educated women have been shown to indulge in breastfeeding initiation. There are certain psychological factors as well, like the cases where the fathers also support breastfeeding. In such cases, the mothers are motivated and find support of their husband in initiating the breastfeeding. Some of the cultural norms like the role of media in displaying their attitude towards breastfeeding, demonstration of artificial feeding as the normal and healthy practice, provision of places in the public, for the mothers to breastfeed their infants/ babies. These factors influence the choice of the mother to breastfeed their babies and these cultural practices can explain the differeing rates of breastfeeding aong women belonging to different countries and communities. Artificial feeding has become the most common cultural practice in UK, USA and some parts of Europe. Only some women, who belong to high income groups, are an exception to this practice (The University of York, 2000).
Conclusion
Breastfeeding is linked with the reduction of risk of many diseases and adverse health conditions resulting from gastroenteritis, otitis media, necrotizing enterocolitis, etc. some research studies have also concluded that breastfeeding is associated with obesity during childhood and the development of the cognitive senses (Oakley, L., Renfrew, M, Kurinczuk, J and Quigley, M., 2013). The rates of breastfeeding in UK are very low as compared to the rates in the rest of the world and the rates are even lowest in Europe. Many socio-cultural factors, environmental factors and demographic factors as well, have been involved in describing their influence on the rate of breastfeeding. And still research is being conducted to study the perceptions and experiences of the women of breastfeeding. The data suggests that most of the women in UK take the decision of infant feeding without prior consultation with the health professional and secondly, the health promotional campaigns have been, till date, successful in spreading the awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding and educating the women. The statistical records have also shown that women, who have low income or are less educated, prefer stopping breastfeeding after one month of the birth of their baby. However, research based studies have also shown that highly educated women, and those who get support from their husbands, tend to continue breastfeeding atleast for the first six months (Earle, S., 2002). In order to increase the number of women who breastfeed their babies, the government of UK has implemented many coaliation programs that increase the awareness and educate the women about the health benefits associated with human milk and how it helps in reducing the risk of many diseases for both, the infant and the mother.
References
Bolling, K, Grant, C, Hamlyn, B & Thornton, A, (2007). Infant Feeding Survey 2005. The Information Centre for Health and Social Care, London.
Child and maternity health observatory (ChiMat). 92013). Child health profile: Wolverhapton.
Earle, S. (2002). Factors affecting the initiation of breastfeeding: implications for breastfeeding promotion. Health Promotion. Int. 17(3); 205-214.
Henry, B., Nicolau, A, Américo, C, Ximenes, L, Bernheim, R. and Oriá, M. (2010). Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Breastfeeding Practices among Low-Income Women in Fortaleza-Ceará-Brazil: a Leininger’s Sunrise Model Perspective. Clinica, N 19.
Information Centre for Health and Social Care (2011). Infant Feeding Survey 2010: early results. Retrieved on 9th April 2015 from www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/infantfeeding10.
Ip, S, Chung, M., Raman, G, Chew, P, Magula, N, deVine, D, Trikalinos, T and Lau, J. (2007). Breastfeeding and maternal and infant health outcomes in developed countries. Evidnce Report/ Technology assessment, no. 153.
Lee, E, (2007). Health, morality, and infant feeding: British mothers’ experiences of early formula milk use in the early weeks. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(7): 1075–1090.
Meedya, S., Fahy, K and Kable, A. (2010). Factors that positively influence breastfeeding duration to 6 months: A literature review. Women and birth, 23(4): 135-145.
Morton et al. (2005). Breastfeeding and the use of human ilk. American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding, 115(2): 496-506.
Oakley, L., Renfrew, M, Kurinczuk, J and Quigley, M. (2013). Factors associated with breastfeeding in England: an analysis by primary care trust. BMJ Open, 3: e002765.
Rousseau et al. (1982). Influence of cultural and environmental factors on breast-feeding. CMA Journal, 127: 701-704.
The baby friendly initiative. (2010). UK breastfeeding rates. Retrieved on 9th April 2015 from https://www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/About-Baby-Friendly/Breastfeeding-in-the-UK/UK-Breastfeeding-rates/.
The coalition. (2006). The breastfeeding manifesto coalition. Retrieved on 9th April 2015 from https://www.breastfeedingmanifesto.org.uk/the_coalition.php.
The University of York. (2000). Promoting the initiation of breastfeeding. Effective health care, 6(2):1-12.
WHO (World Health Organization). (2001). The World Health Organization’s infant feeding recommendation, retrieved on 29th April 2015 from https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/.REwo
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