Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694836096617.pdf (Ireland)
Bainne Beatha Stories of Breastfeeding in Irish Maternity Hospitals Bainne Beatha Opening Statement Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health | 12th May 2021 My name is Deborah Byrne.

Thank you to Chairperson Crowe for inviting us, and to all of you for attending.

Behind Bainne Beatha, our campaign for improved breastfeeding support services in Irish maternity units, are four working mothers: myself, Megan Etherton, Lucia Prihodova and Felicienne Rahill.
We launched in February 2021, and are running this in our spare time, without funding or political aliations.

We are not a ‘breast is best’ group; we respect a parent’s choice to formula, combination or breastfeed.

However, the Irish maternity service does not appear to consistently support those who do wish to breastfeed.

We hear often about Ireland’s breastfeeding rates being the lowest in Europe, but there is judgement of mothers in that language.
Mothers in Ireland know about the importance of breastfeeding and according to the Irish Maternity Indicator System report, at 63.8%, the majority of them do initiate breastfeeding, but by the time they leave the hospital, this ﬁgure is almost halved to 37.3%.

What happens in those days between birth and discharge from the hospital?

Our report, personal experiences and the stories we have heard since launching, provide some insight into the reasons behind this sharp decline.
We would like to share some of those insights with you and 5 key asks of our Government and action by the Houses of the Oireachtas to make vital interventions.

------ From our report, 37% of mothers reported that midwives were too busy and overworked to provide assistance needed.

A quote:“I have had 3 babies and while the hospital did support breastfeeding, I never saw a lactation consultant despite requests each time.

I was a section mum so in for several days - never available.
Saying you support is not the same as providing hands-on support.

Midwives were v good but v busy with everything else.” I also experienced this on the birth of my ﬁrst child.

Bainne Beatha Stories of Breastfeeding in Irish Maternity Hospitals So our ﬁrst ask is for adequate stang, and for the number of International Board Certiﬁed Lactation Consultants to be increased in line with international benchmarks, and to be accessible in all Irish maternity units.
------ 1 in 3 mothers in our report received conﬂicting advice about how to breastfeed.

“All of the midwives said dierent things which was really hard to ﬁlter through as a new mother” I too faced conﬂicting advice during my time in hospital.

No 2 is to see mandatory evidence-based continuous professional development on breastfeeding for midwives and certiﬁed lactation consultants.

----- In our report, 1 in 3 mothers were oered formula, despite stating their wishes to breastfeed.
One mother wrote: “New mothers shouldn’t need an advocate to defend their intention to breastfeed, fending o formula or conﬂicting advice from the ‘experts’ when they are exhausted and post partum in the middle of their baby’s ﬁrst night.” I too left the hospital formula feeding my baby against my wishes.
No 3 is a national audit of the implementation of National Infant Feeding Policy for Maternity & Neonatal Services, and a review of the promotion and distribution of formula practices across all maternity units.

------ The National Maternity Experience Survey 2020 results showed that 47.3% of women did not know “how to give feedback or make a complaint” about their maternity care.
No 4 is for the National Maternity Experience Survey to expand to comprehensively evaluate service user experiences of breastfeeding support in maternity care.

and Service user representation on the National Breastfeeding Implementation Group for current and future Action Plans.

------ Bainne Beatha Stories of Breastfeeding in Irish Maternity Hospitals In our report, we found that 60% of mothers sought help with breastfeeding privately, spending an average of €440.
I personally had to spend almost €700 in order to be able to breastfeed, after a dicult experience in hospital.

Maternity units can be a level playing ﬁeld, oering a great opportunity to reach a cross section of the 60,000 plus women who give birth in Ireland each year, and extend the opportunity to anyone who wishes to breastfeed.
So our ﬁnal and most important ask is for the full implementation and assessment of the Breastfeeding Action Plan, to ensure proactive, skilled, timely breastfeeding assistance for mothers and babies, regardless of location, demographic or ability to pay.

----- There are amazing midwives, public health nurses, voluntary support groups, including Cuidiu who is present here today, and lactation consultants who manage to ‘save’ mothers’ breastfeeding journeys after their dicult experience in hospital.
However, thousands are falling through the net every year bringing about added potential health risks for mothers and their babies.

Not investing in this crucial period is a sure-ﬁre way to guarantee we are cutting our breastfeeding rates within hours of birth.

So, we need to ﬂip the narrative which blames mothers, and instead, address low breastfeeding support rates in ireland.
Breastfeeding is a component of the National Maternity Strategy, the Strategy for Women and Girls on the Dept of Justice & Equality, the National Obesity Plan and National Cancer plan.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party identiﬁed breastfeeding as a priority in the Program For Government, and we want to see them honour this commitment.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to share these stories with you.
Now what we want is full implementation of what has been promised in the National Maternity Strategy, and the Breastfeeding Action Plan.

Breastfeeding reduces risks of multiple health issues for mothers and babies, and they deserve the protection of the Irish Government.

Thank you.