Gerry & Dave Talk To Peter Andre…’s Wife About Breast Feeding
Gerry & Dave are used to getting things wrong. Fantastically wrong. However, this is one time they didn’t want to screw up.
Breast feeding – it’s a topic that you don’t want to offend anyone about. But, let’s be honest, what do our blokes know about it?
So, they did their research.
Fewer than half of babies in England are breastfed at 6-8 weeks. New survey of 1,000 mothers reveals nearly two thirds believe access to 24/7 breastfeeding support would make new mums more likely to have a positive experience ofbreastfeeding
Almost three-quarters of women start breastfeeding when their child is born, however by 6-8 weeks this drops to just 44%.This makes breastfeeding rates in England among the lowest in the world.
A new survey of 1,000 mothers of young children commissioned by Public Health England revealed that in hindsight, mothers wished they had been better prepared for breastfeeding. Before the birth of their first child, mums’ biggest priorities were buying baby equipment (66%), preparing for labour and buying baby clothes.
However, post birth, nearly a quarter wished they had read about and were more prepared for breastfeeding. One in four wished they had known that asking for help about breastfeeding can make a real difference.
Almost a third of mothers also felt embarrassed about asking for help with breastfeeding from healthcare
professionals. Many mothers can find breastfeeding challenging and often this may cause them to give up. Evidence shows the right support helps mothers to breastfeed for longer. PHE’s programme Start4Life has created the 24/7 Breastfeeding Friend to encourage parents to adopt healthy behaviours. It is available for free on a range of platforms, including Facebook Messenger, and now for the first time it will also be available as a skill for Amazon Alexa’s voice service.
Public Health England recommends exclusive breastfeeding for around the first six months. Breastfeeding boosts a baby’s ability to fight illness and infection, and babies who are not breastfed are more likely to get diarrhoea and chest infections. Breastfeeding also lowers a mother’s risk of breast cancer and may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.
Peter Andre’s wife Dr Emily Macdonagh popped in to give us the inside track.
