Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

Interventions to Promote Breastfeeding
Community Support of Breastfeeding: Approaches to communicating the benefits of
breastfeeding.
The benefits of breastfeeding can be presented to the community as ‘benefits’ or as the ‘risk
of formula feeding’. It has been the position of breastfeeding organisations for some years
that the correct way to present information to the community is the increased risks of formula
feeding compared to breastfeeding. However the message ‘breastfeed your infant or it might
die or will be less intelligent’, while true, is a politically hard message to sell.
In the USA a national survey showed the following apparently contradictory trends. While
74% disagreed with the statement ‘infant formula is as good as breastmilk’ at the same time
only 24% agreed that ‘feeding a baby formula instead of breastmilk increases the chances the
baby will get sick’ (Li, Rock et al. 2007). This is despite the fact that in developing and
developing countries formula fed infants have greater morbidity and mortality. In 2002
Smith calculated that not breastfeeding led to extra costs to the ACT health system of $1-2
million per year from just five diseases (Smith, Thompson et al. 2002).
Stuebe gives the following account of a series of advertisements which were developed in the
USA to promote breastfeeding, but did not make it to air (Stuebe and Schwarz 2010). The
Advertising Council found that mothers who were advised about the ‘benefits of
breastfeeding’ viewed lactation as an option, while mothers who were told of the risks of not
breastfeeding were far more likely to say that they would breastfeed their infants (Stuebe and
Schwarz 2010). There are no similar studies reported from Australia.
Another divergence of public attitudes is shown by the attitude to breastfeeding in public
places in the US in 2003 (Li, Rock et al. 2007).
Mothers who breastfeed should do so in private places; 37%
I am comfortable when mothers breastfeed their babies near me in a public place, such as a
shopping center, bus station, etc.; 48%
590