Breastfeeding support in England during the Covid-19 pandemic

Published on Tuesday, 17 December 2024 Post

Breastfeeding support interventions are associated with breastfeeding for longer, and are recommended as part of national and international guidelines. In England, breastfeeding support in hospital will usually be from the midwife or neonatal team, and following discharge, support will be from the midwife or health visitor. Due to understaffing and lack of resources, support through these routine services may not always be offered, taken up, or meet the needs of women who are learning to breastfeed or experiencing difficulties.

Additional support is available from other services including breastfeeding counsellors, peer supporters and lactation consultants. Use of these services depends on them being available, accessible, promoted and women being motivated to utilise them. Both routine and additional breastfeeding support were severely impacted during the first year of the pandemic.

Nationally representative data on breastfeeding support, and women's experiences of support, in England is lacking. We described sources and modes of breastfeeding support reported by women who gave birth during the pandemic in 2020, and compared these with earlier maternity surveys. We also explored which sources and modes of support of support were used by different groups of women.

From 2014 to 2020 support from midwives and other health professionals declined whereas other formal breastfeeding support (e.g. breastfeeding specialist, breastfeeding support group, peer supporter) and informal support from partners and friends/relatives remained constant. The proportion of women who wanted more help with breastfeeding increased from 30% in 2014-2018 to 46% in 2020.

In 2020, the women most likely to want more help with breastfeeding were first-time mothers, younger and of Pakistani ethnicity. One in four women reported receiving no face-to-face support. Receiving breastfeeding support over the phone (35%) was more common than via video call (13%) or text message (5%); these percentages varied according to socio-demographic and pregnancy-related factors.

Breastfeeding support has declined in recent years, and did not meet the needs of many women during the pandemic. Planning for a future emergency should include adequate provision of breastfeeding support particularly if staff are redeployed into other roles. The characteristics associated with support can inform service planning and delivery.

Our study is published in BMC Public Health.

Please find here a simple summary of our findings and a paper on policy implications.