In Great Britain, great efforts are being made to encourage mothers to breastfeed their baby. In the counties of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, 130 women are taking part in an experiment that could make other mothers jealous. If these willing mothers agree to breastfeed their child for the first six weeks, they will receive a reward of 120 pounds (140 euros) in vouchers. Even more interesting, if they continue to breastfeed until their baby is 6 months old then they will receive a voucher of 200 pounds (240 euros).
“The worst breastfeeding rate in the world”
Vouchers are the latest tool found by the National Health Service, Britain’s public health service, to push women into breastfeeding, which is lacking especially in the poorest strata of the country. While the World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months, very few women in Britain actually practice it. Only 34% of babies in the UK are breastfed.
“The UK has one of the worst breastfeeding rates in the world,” she said. And in richer areas babies are four times more likely to be breastfed than in poorer areas.
Yet the benefits of breastfeeding are well established: “Babies who are breastfed have fewer health problems, whether they are digestive or respiratory problems, and are less likely to have breastfeeding. diabetes and being obese later on, ”says Clare Relton, project organizer and professor at the University of Sheffield.
If this cash-for-breastfeeding experiment works, it should be rolled out across the country.
Great Britain is not the only country to encourage breastfeeding, but the policies implemented differ. In Venezuela, for example, we chose toforce mothers to breastfeed under penalty of sanctions.
