PRESS RELEASE
Monday 23rd March 2025
REPORT SHOWS UK MOTHERS ARE BEING LET DOWN
UK Health Professionals lack training on infant feeding
Findings from the UK’s second World Breasfeeding Trends Initiative assessment
- What happens when a breastfeeding mother is admitted to hospital with a broken leg?
- Or her GP wants to prescribe her an;depressants?
Doctors and nurses often have little or no training in infant feeding and may not know how to support breasKeeding mothers under their care, according to a new report released today by a group oforganisations working in maternal and infant health.
Health impact of breas1eeding
Enabling mothers to continue breastfeeding has important public health impacts on women’s health, reducing their risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, poor mental health, obesity and overweight. Breastfeeding reduces infants’ risk of SIDS and necrotsing enterocolis, with later impacts on diabetes, obesity and overweight, and can improve brain development, emotional development and school performance.i
Gaps in health professional training
The UK’s UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiativeii continues to be a world leader and is the highest scoring program UK-wide, although recently England has been impacted by funding and staffing pressures.
Maternity staff in Baby Friendly (BFI) accredited hospitals and health visitors in BFI accredited community services have strong in-service training in the basics of breastfeeding management, while the pre-registration training for midwives, lactation consultants (IBCLCs), breastfeeding counsellors, peer supporters and BFI-accredited health visiting programmes have higher levels of breastfeeding education.
In contrast, once mothers are discharged from hospital, other health professionals such as nurses, doctors, dieticians and pharmacists may have had very little (see gaps in red in table).
There is no mention of infant feeding in nursing training standards; even paediatric and neonatal nurses may not have a basic knowledge of breas1eeding.
BFI accredited university health visitor (HV)programmes have significantly more content on breastfeeding. By 2024, one fifth of HV training programmes were BFI-accredited; our recommendation is that all HV university programmes should achieve BFI accreditation, as well as all community services. HV services should be well staffed and integrated with a network of skilled peer supporters and a specialist pathway when needed. Health visitors have a crucial role in supporting and signposting families to other support.
Some Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is sponsored by bottle and formula companies, creating conflicts of interest. This report confirms recent findings by the Competition & Markets Authority of profiteering and misleading marketing by formula companies, with little or no monitoring or enforcement of current regulations; the WBTi team heartily endorses the CMA recommendations for stronger protections for consumers.iii
New report on infant feeding in the UK: devolved nations are in the lead
The second UK WBTi report shows little progress since the first assessment in 2016. The devolved nations have continued to show national leadership, with stronger policies and programmes on infant feeding, consistently scoring higher than England. Wales has been reconfiguring services, has a national action plan to 2024, and recently put a leadership team in place. Northern Ireland has put many policies in place and is the only nation to have completed updated resources on infant feeding and HIV, giving them the top score. Scotland, whose national early years team recently won the political leadership category of the Children’s Food Awards, demonstrates strong political will, joined up policies, and investment in community breastfeeding support, the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, and the National Breasetfeding Helpline, over the longest period and has seen breastfeeding rates start to rise.
Who is WBTI?
The World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) UK project is a collaboration of health professional bodies, third sector organisations and experts (listed below), with an advisory group of government officials from all four nations.
Launched in 2004, the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) was developed by IBFAN (the International Baby Food Action Network), to assist countries to assess the status of and benchmark the progress in implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding in a standard way. It is based on the WHO’s tool for national assessment of policy and programmes on infant and young child feeding. WBTi involves more than 840 organisations including governments and UN countries in 100 countries .
Saving the NHS £millions
Basic interventions to support more mothers to breastfeed could pay for themselves within a year, saving 54,000 GP appointments and over 9,500 hospitalisations every year iv
Supporting more families to breastfeed, and for longer, would support maternal and infant physical and mental health, strengthen the UK’s resilience in emergencies, while reducing the environmental impact of the dairy and formula industries.
Most mothers in the UK start out breastfeeding, but by 6-8 weeks, less than half of babies are receiving any breastmilk at all. Surveys show that most mothers who stopped early wanted to breastfeed for longer v – the WBTI team call for all those who wish to breastfeed to have access to the skilled support and protection they need, while there should be affordable formula and understanding of safe and hygienic preparation for those families who use formula.
Political will is required with action and investment at all levels: local authorities, the health system, and at national levels.
“We look forward to a UK that respects and supports parents’ infant feeding decisions and removes all barriers to their feeding journeys.” (WBTI 2024 REPORT)
“If we value children, their mothers and their other carers, then a step change is needed in breastfeeding support in the UK” (Dr Robert Boyle, Consultant Paediatrician, Imperial College, London)
“The breastfeeding journeys of many of these families –especially those already in crisis- are heartbreakingly difficult or cut short. The solution is not to ignore either the voices of the overwhelming majority of women and parents, or the public health benefits of more women breastfeeding as they wish. What is needed is a robust, national strategy and long-term investment for UK families to benefit from comprehensive high-quality information and support.” (Catherine Hine, The Breas1eeding Network)
Press contacts for interviews
WBTi UK: Helen Gray 020 8767 2745, 07973 262659 helengray123@yahoo.co.uk
Clare Meynell 01243 512 327, 07584 160 892 clarelmeynell@gmail.com
Patti Rundall 07786 523493 prundall@babymilkaction.org. Baby Milk Action/IBFAN-UK
Notes to Editors
WBTI UK 2024 Report available at: https://ukbreas1feeding.org/wbti
Key recommendations in the WBTi UK report:
UK and devolved governments:
Infant feeding in emergencies
- National governments to develop and implement policies for the care of infants and toddlers in preparedness planning and responses, aligned with global guidance.
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative
- Fully fund time-bound implementation and maintenance of BFI accreditation in all healthcare and community settings, as a service requirement.
Breastfeeding support services
- Governments to maintain adequate maternity and health visiting staffing levels.
- Government/health departments to establish national standards for infant feeding roles.
Maternity protection in the workplace
- Increase maternity, paternity and shared parental pay to at least the National Minimum Wage.
- Enact a statutory right to paid flexible breastfeeding breaks and suitable facilities to breastfeed, express and store milk in workplaces/education, as well as the provision of expressed milk in childcare settings.
UK infant formula legislation
- Widen the scope of the legislation to include marketing of all formula milks up to age 36 months, equipment (bottles and teats) and digital marketing.
- Strengthen monitoring and enforcement of regulations
National strategy/leadership for England
- UK Government to establish a securely funded national feeding strategy, timebound action plan, multi-sectoral committee and national coordinator for England.
All local authorities
- Provide for infants and toddlers in local emergency planning
- To commission integrated community services meeting Baby Friendly standards: universal care from BFI-trained health professionals, a skilled peer support network and specialist services
Health professional bodies
Health professional training
- Standards to include infant feeding as a mandatory pre-registration element for health workers who care for mothers, babies and young children.
- End the approval of industry sponsored education for CPD
The WBTi UK Core Group
Members of the Core Group are expected to be free of conflicts of interest with the baby feeding industry (baby milks, baby foods, bottles or teats).
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM)
Baby Milk Action
Baby Feeding Law Group
Breastfeeding Alliance
Breastfeeding Network (BfN)
First Steps Nutrition Trust (FSNT)
GP Infant Feeding Network (GPIFN)
Hospital Infant Feeding Network (HIFN)
Institute of Health Visiting (iHV)
Lactation Consultants of Great Britain (LCGB)
La Leche League GB (LLLGB)
Leicester Mammas
Maternity Action
NCT
Royal College of Midwives (RCM)*
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI)
University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN)
The RCM declared itself free of conflicts of interest from May 2023 until October 2024
The WBTi Assessment
The policy recommendations from the UK WBTI 2024 Report will be presented at a parliamentary event in June 2025.
The WBTi assists countries to measure strengths and weaknesses on the ten parameters of policy and programmes that protect, promote and support optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices.,[i] with assessments of ten key areas of infant feeding policy and programmes, in 100 countries around the world:
- National policies
- UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative
- Regulation of marketing of infant milks, bottles and teats
- Maternity protection in the workplace
- Health systems and training
- Breastfeeding support
- Accurate information
- Infant feeding and HIV
- Infant feeding in emergencies
- Data collection, monitoring and evaluation
Dr Robert Boyle, Consultant Paediatrician, Imperial College, London
“There are areas of progress since the 2016 report, but the main message of this report is that much more can be and should be done to support breastfeeding in the UK. More than half of babies born in the UK are put the breast within an hour of birth, but by age 6 weeks many babies are fully bottle-fed. These are some of the worst breastfeeding figures in the world. In these times of conflict and climate change, the UK has no national strategy or response plan for feeding infants in emergencies, where breastfeeding has a key role.
If we value children, their mothers and their other carers, then a step change is needed in breastfeeding support in the UK. Key report recommendations include an infant feeding strategy for England, national strategies for feeding infants in emergencies, scaling up breastfeeding support through initiatives such as Family Hubs and BFI accreditation, and strengthening regulation of formula marketing at least in line with the recent Competition and Markets Authority recommendations.”
Catherine Hine, The Breastfeeding Network
‘This report must be a wakeup call.
BfN hears time and time again from tens of thousands of women and parents we support every year, that they need the UK to step up. The overwhelming majority of women and parents want to breastfeed their children. The breastfeeding journeys of many of these families –especially those already in crisis- are heart-breakingly difficult or cut short. The solution is not to ignore either the voices of the overwhelming majority of women and parents, or the public health benefits of more women breastfeeding as they wish. What is needed is a robust, national strategy and long-term investment for UK families to benefit from comprehensive high-quality information and support. This must go hand in hand with government-led action to regulate marketing by a multi-billion-dollar industry, whose sustained attack on breastfeeding undermines women’s choice and mental health.’
[i] World Breastfeeding Trends initiative global website. https://www.worldbreastfeedingtrends.org
[1] Victora, C. et al. (2016). Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet (London, England), 387(10017), 475–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01024-7
Pérez-Escamilla, R. et al. (2023). Breastfeeding: crucially important, but increasingly challenged in a market-driven world. Lancet (London, England), 401(10375), 472–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01932-8
[1] https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/about/
[1] Competition & Markets Authority. (2025). Infant formula and follow on formula market study.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-formula-and-follow-on-formula-market-study-final-report
[1] Renfrew, M. et al. (2012). Preventing disease and saving resources: the potential contribution of increasing breastfeeding rates in the UK. UNICEF UK. https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/11/Preventing_disease_saving_resources.pdf
[1] Public Health England. Commissioning Infant Feeding Services. 2016. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8010daed915d74e33f83e6/Commissioning_infant_feeding_services_infographics__Part_1_.pdf
[1] World Breastfeeding Trends initiative global website. https://www.worldbreastfeedingtrends.org