All-island breastfeeding conference highlights significant health impact of breastfeeding

An all-island breastfeeding conference will take place today at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. The conference, Breastfeeding really matters, is the first cross-border breastfeeding event organised by the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) and the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of Health and Children, Republic of Ireland, and will be addressed by international experts in the care of newborn babies.

Keynote speaker, Dr Nils Bergman, Senior Medical Superintendent at Mowbray Maternity Hospital, Cape Town, developed and implemented Kangaroo Mother Care* (KMC) in South Africa, which resulted in a five-fold improvement in the survival of very low birth weight babies. He said: “Breastfeeding is a behaviour which shapes and sculpts the brain, and that brain shaping stays for life. Skin-to-skin contact is what the newborn requires in order for the brain to be shaped in the best possible way, and breastfeeding in the fullest sense is not about eating, but about brain growth, and the development of good relationships. Any other form of care is experienced by the newborn as separation, and prolonged separation causes permanent harm to babies’ brains.”

Prof Stewart Forsyth, Consultant Paediatrician at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee will address the potential impact that breastfeeding can have on reducing health inequalities. He said: “Research undertaken in Dundee has demonstrated that health outcomes in children are related to infant feeding practice, with significantly less illness occurring in breastfed children. The positive effects of breastfeeding were found to be particularly marked in socially disadvantaged children who were breastfed and these children tended to have better health outcomes than children from more affluent families who had received formula milk.”

Over 300 health professionals, peer workers and voluntary breastfeeding counsellors from across Ireland are expected to attend the one day conference which will focus on skin-to-skin contact, SIDS, bed-sharing and breastfeeding, and reducing health inequalities through breastfeeding.

Janet Calvert, Regional Breastfeeding Coordinator with the HPA said: “Breastfeeding really does matter and this conference gives us the opportunity to learn about current breastfeeding practices in other countries. We have one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe and our predominantly bottle-feeding culture means that we need to increase awareness about the importance of breastfeeding and ensure that breastfeeding is supported within the health service and in society as a whole.”

Breastfed babies are less likely to have many illnesses, including stomach, chest and ear infections, as well as asthma, diabetes and obesity. Breast milk protects premature babies against serious bowel disorders and ensures better eyesight and brain development. Mothers who breastfeed have a lower risk of ovarian and breast cancer, and osteoporosis in later life.

* Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a universally available and biologically sound method of care for all newborns, but in particular for premature babies. It involves skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, exclusive breastfeeding and keeping mother and baby together at all times.

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For further information contact
Rosie McGaughey at the HPA Press Office on 028 9031 1611.
Email: r.mcgaughey@hpani.org.uk.
Website: www.breastfedbabies.org.