Attitudes towards breastfeeding 'must change' in UK

Poor attitudes: Experts have called for Britons' views on breastfeeding in public to improve
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Fiona Simpson1 August 2017

Britons’ attitudes to breastfeeding prevent mothers in the UK from nursing their babies for more than a few weeks, experts have said.

The UK has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world, research by Unicef and the World Health Organisation shows.

Just one in three babies – 34 per cent - are breastfed for the recommended six months in the UK compared to 71 per cent in Norway.

The shocking statistics sparked a call for Britons to change their attitudes to breastfeeding in a bid to improve babies’ mental and physical development.

Professor Neena Modi, RCPCH president, told the Guardian that many children in the UK found the practice “yukky”.

She added that “society is ambivalent about women’s bodies” and called for schools to improve education about breastfeeding.

Some new mums also believe their partners would be “uncomfortable” if they breastfed.

Prof Modi said: “Perhaps many men feel discomforted because they grow up to regard the breast as a sexual object.”

She added: “If someone was selling rich middle class parents some wonderful new whatever to improve their children’s intellectual ability, it would probably sell like hot cakes. And breast milk is absolutely just that.”

The call to change the country’s attitudes to the topic comes on the 25th anniversary of National Breastfeeding Week.

On Monday the Kyrgyzstan President’s daughter spoke out over and image of her feeding her son which sparked a worldwide debate on the issue.

Aliya Shagieva, 20, responded to critics after she faced a backlash for sharing an image of her breastfeeding in her underwear.

The intimate photograph of her and her one-month-old son Tagir was posted on Instagram in April with the caption: “I will feed my child whenever and wherever he needs to be fed.”

The image of the 20-year-old breastfeeding her son sparked a breastfeeding row
Aliya Shagieva, Instagram

But after she was attacked on social media and accused of “sexualisation”, she took the image down.

Her parents, President Almazbek Atambayev and his wife Raisa, disapproved.

“They really didn’t like it. And it is understandable because the younger generation is less conservative than their parents,” she said.

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