Women urged to breastfeed for longer

More women should be encouraged to breastfeed, it has been suggested. Beverley Beech, honorary chair of the Association for the Improvement in Maternity Services, said that too often, women are persuaded to give up breastfeeding early. Commenting after news that breastfeeding in public has been made legal under the Equality Bill, Ms Beech said that obstetricians are often too keen to persuade women to give up breastfeeding.

She went on to note that mothers have a lower risk of breast cancer when they breastfeed and it is also thought that it protects babies from certain cancers and sudden infant death syndrome.

The new Equality Bill means that it is now unlawful for women to be forced out of public places if they are feeding their babies.

In the Infant Feeding Survey 2005 it was discovered that mothers in managerial and professional occupations were more likely to breastfeed their babies, as were those aged over 30 and first-time mums.

Around 78 per cent of mothers in England chose to breastfeed their children, whereas only 63 per cent of Northern Irish mums did.