Mothers could win right to breastfeed in public

The government is considering plans to support mothers with the right to nurse their babies in public. At present, women can face prosecution under public order or indecency legislation if they breastfeed in public. But ministers are considering plans to allow mothers to breastfeed babies up to the age of six months in public. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "Final decisions have yet to be made, but the Government is keen to give new mothers complete confidence to breast feed while going about their normal business, for example while on the bus or in a café."

Britain has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in Europe. Three-quarters of mothers give their newborn baby breast milk, but this falls to around 25 per cent after six months.

Francesca Entwhistle, of the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition, told the Daily Telegraph: "One of the reasons that many women do not currently breast feed is because they do not want to breast feed in public.

"If any place is made welcoming, I am sure they will have the confidence to breast feed in greater numbers.

"It is about making it the norm in society, rather that something women have to ask permission to do."

In Scotland, mothers already have the legal right to breast feed infants up to the age of two in restaurants and bars, and on public transport.