They get 7 a week in vouchers to cover the cost of buying milk while breastfeeding mothers receive tokens worth 2.10 when they could use extra money to buy healthier food. One HIV woman who refused to have her baby tested and wanted to continue breastfeeding was recently ordered to have the baby tested. The case is likely to be considered by the European Court of Human Rights. The mother does not have to do all the feeding and can leave the baby with others while she catches up on sleep or gets a break from the baby. If a breastfeeding mother misses or delays a feed, her breasts may overfill and become painful and start leaking milk.
Some women develop an infection called mastitis - painful, inflamed breasts.
Others may experience lumps in the breast caused by blocked milk ducts. Both conditions can be treated, for example, by changing breastfeeding position. Women with severe mastitis may need antibiotics. Although organisations exist to help breastfeeding mothers, many complain that they still do not get enough advice. They often, for example, experience difficulty weaning babies onto formula milk once the baby is used to breast milk and they have to go back to work.