Increase in breastfeeding could save NHS £40m a year, according to report: Research finds that breastfeeding for longer reduces rate of cancer, respiratory illness, ear infections and bowel diseases
The NHS could save at least £40m a year if more women were given help to breastfeed for longer, according to a new report.
Research by Unicef UK for the first time calculates the cost to the health service of the UK's poor record on breastfeeding. Research has shown that breastfeeding lowers women's risk of breast cancer and protects babies against infections.
The report looks at the potential savings to the NHS in five disease areas if women were better supported to start feeding their babies and to feed them for longer: breast cancer in mothers, and gastroenteritis, respiratory illness, ear infections and the life-threatening condition necrotising enterocolitis in babies.
If half the women who currently do not breastfeed were to do so for up to 18 months, there would be 865 fewer cases of breast cancer, says Unicef, which would save the NHS more than £21m.
If 45% of babies were exclusively breastfed for four months and if 75% of babies in neonatal units were breastfed when they were sent home, more than 3,000 fewer babies would end up in hospital with gastroenteritis, nearly 6,000 fewer babies would be in hospital with respiratory illness, there would be 21,000 fewer visits with babies to GPs for ear infections, and 361 fewer cases of potentially fatal necrotising enterocolitis. The NHS would save more than £17m.
Other areas where there would also be savings are in cognitive ability, childhood obesity and sudden infant death syndrome, says Unicef – probably of more than £6.5m – but in these and other areas, such as future adult heart disease, the financial implications are harder to assess.
"We know that 90% of women who stop breastfeeding in the first six weeks discontinued before they had wanted to," said Unicef UK's deputy executive director Anita Tiessen. "As a society we are failing mothers and babies, and this new report shows that low breastfeeding rates in the UK are costing the NHS millions of pounds each year, as well as causing untold distress and suffering for families.
"We want to see breastfeeding recognised as a major public health issue from government level through to local children's centres, and appropriate investment and legislation put in place to give mothers a better experience of breastfeeding. The good news for commissioners, planners and decision makers is that our research shows that money invested to help women breastfeed for longer would provide a rapid financial return."
The lead author of the study, Prof Mary Renfrew from the University of Dundee, said the report was about the impact of breastfeeding on whole populations, not individual women. Its aim is to influence planners and decision-makers within the NHS to get more support for those who would like to breastfeed.
"The UK is a very challenging environment for breastfeeding women," she said. "For any woman to breastfeed, she has to overcome a series of barriers." It is hard for women who want to feed their babies when they are out or at work, she said.
The "ambivalence in public discourse" over breastfeeding did not help, she said.
"Any infant feeding story gets quite contentious. It stirs up a dichotomy between women who want to breastfeed and women who bottle feed. We should make it easier for women to feed their babies however they want, but 90% who stop breastfeeding do so before they want to. We're not pushing against a closed door."
Although 81% of mothers begin breastfeeding their baby, the dropout rate is high. Figures from 2005, which are the best currently available, show only 48% of babies were getting any breastmilk at six weeks and 35% at six months. Less than 2% are exclusively breastfed at six months, as the Department of Health recommends.
Support for mothers from the health service is "inconsistent and very patchy", says Renfrew. "A lot of current health professionals are not well-trained to give advice," she said. Women do not necessarily know how to breastfeed if they have never seen anyone doing it and need to be taught. And if a baby is not gaining weight, health professionals may suggest formula milk, rather than attempting to help a woman breast feed more often.
Diane Abbott, the shadow public health minister, said government cuts are having an impact on attempts to boost breastfeeding – particularly in areas where rates are lowest. A study by the data organisation SSentif in June showed big variations between primary care trusts. Sandwell in the West Midlands had a drop-off rate in 2010/11 of nearly 65% at 6-8 weeks, from a low breastfeeding initiation rate of 56%. In the same year, it cut spending on maternity and reproductive services by almost 20%.
Westminster, which increased maternity spending by 157%, had an initiation rate of 89% and a drop-off rate of just under 7%.
"With all the pressures that hard-pressed families are facing right now, this is a cruel and two-faced attack on the health of British families, with the poorest being hit the hardest," said Abbott.
An annual week promoting breast feeding nationally has been abolished and a Department of Health advisory committee on breastfeeding no longer meets, she pointed out. The Guardian
The NHS could save at least £40m a year if more women were given help to breastfeed for longer, according to a new report.
Research by Unicef UK for the first time calculates the cost to the health service of the UK's poor record on breastfeeding. Research has shown that breastfeeding lowers women's risk of breast cancer and protects babies against infections.
The report looks at the potential savings to the NHS in five disease areas if women were better supported to start feeding their babies and to feed them for longer: breast cancer in mothers, and gastroenteritis, respiratory illness, ear infections and the life-threatening condition necrotising enterocolitis in babies.
If half the women who currently do not breastfeed were to do so for up to 18 months, there would be 865 fewer cases of breast cancer, says Unicef, which would save the NHS more than £21m.
If 45% of babies were exclusively breastfed for four months and if 75% of babies in neonatal units were breastfed when they were sent home, more than 3,000 fewer babies would end up in hospital with gastroenteritis, nearly 6,000 fewer babies would be in hospital with respiratory illness, there would be 21,000 fewer visits with babies to GPs for ear infections, and 361 fewer cases of potentially fatal necrotising enterocolitis. The NHS would save more than £17m.
Other areas where there would also be savings are in cognitive ability, childhood obesity and sudden infant death syndrome, says Unicef – probably of more than £6.5m – but in these and other areas, such as future adult heart disease, the financial implications are harder to assess.
"We know that 90% of women who stop breastfeeding in the first six weeks discontinued before they had wanted to," said Unicef UK's deputy executive director Anita Tiessen. "As a society we are failing mothers and babies, and this new report shows that low breastfeeding rates in the UK are costing the NHS millions of pounds each year, as well as causing untold distress and suffering for families.
"We want to see breastfeeding recognised as a major public health issue from government level through to local children's centres, and appropriate investment and legislation put in place to give mothers a better experience of breastfeeding. The good news for commissioners, planners and decision makers is that our research shows that money invested to help women breastfeed for longer would provide a rapid financial return."
The lead author of the study, Prof Mary Renfrew from the University of Dundee, said the report was about the impact of breastfeeding on whole populations, not individual women. Its aim is to influence planners and decision-makers within the NHS to get more support for those who would like to breastfeed.
"The UK is a very challenging environment for breastfeeding women," she said. "For any woman to breastfeed, she has to overcome a series of barriers." It is hard for women who want to feed their babies when they are out or at work, she said.
The "ambivalence in public discourse" over breastfeeding did not help, she said.
"Any infant feeding story gets quite contentious. It stirs up a dichotomy between women who want to breastfeed and women who bottle feed. We should make it easier for women to feed their babies however they want, but 90% who stop breastfeeding do so before they want to. We're not pushing against a closed door."
Although 81% of mothers begin breastfeeding their baby, the dropout rate is high. Figures from 2005, which are the best currently available, show only 48% of babies were getting any breastmilk at six weeks and 35% at six months. Less than 2% are exclusively breastfed at six months, as the Department of Health recommends.
Support for mothers from the health service is "inconsistent and very patchy", says Renfrew. "A lot of current health professionals are not well-trained to give advice," she said. Women do not necessarily know how to breastfeed if they have never seen anyone doing it and need to be taught. And if a baby is not gaining weight, health professionals may suggest formula milk, rather than attempting to help a woman breast feed more often.
Diane Abbott, the shadow public health minister, said government cuts are having an impact on attempts to boost breastfeeding – particularly in areas where rates are lowest. A study by the data organisation SSentif in June showed big variations between primary care trusts. Sandwell in the West Midlands had a drop-off rate in 2010/11 of nearly 65% at 6-8 weeks, from a low breastfeeding initiation rate of 56%. In the same year, it cut spending on maternity and reproductive services by almost 20%.
Westminster, which increased maternity spending by 157%, had an initiation rate of 89% and a drop-off rate of just under 7%.
"With all the pressures that hard-pressed families are facing right now, this is a cruel and two-faced attack on the health of British families, with the poorest being hit the hardest," said Abbott.
An annual week promoting breast feeding nationally has been abolished and a Department of Health advisory committee on breastfeeding no longer meets, she pointed out. The Guardian
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