Thousands to be offered vouchers for breast-feeding
Friday November 21st, 2014
Thousands of new mothers are to get a chance to earn vouchers by breast-feeding their babies, it was announced yesterday.
Some
4,000 women in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire are to take part in a major
trial of the idea following the "success" of a trial.
Some 108 women took part in the trial, reported in The Lancet yesterday.
Out of the 108 women, some 48 were able to claim vouchers for successful breast-feeding - and 37 claimed up to £120 worth of vouchers for maintaining it for up to two months.
The trial took part in an area where fewer than 30% of women usually breastfeed babies.
Researcher Dr Clare Relton, from Sheffield University, said the scheme had proved controversial from the outset.
She said: "For several decades now the majority of babies in the UK have not been getting enough breast milk, and despite many efforts, this situation has not improved. Now we need to conduct the full trial to find out if offering vouchers for breastfeeding can significantly increase our stubbornly low breastfeeding rates and be a cost effective use of UK public funds."
The Royal College of Midwives called for alternative ways of improving breast-feeding to be studied.
Chief executive Cathy Warwick said: "For example an increase in the numbers of midwives specialising in infant feeding will have a positive impact. There are also many innovative projects across the country that are improving breastfeeding rates such as using peer support groups.
"We need to learn from these and implement them on a much bigger scale."
Are financial incentives for breastfeeding feasible in the UK? A mixed methods field study Lancet 19 November 2014; doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62131-0 [abstract]
Tags: Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | NHS | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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