Breastfeeding rates recover after initial decline during Covid-19 outbreak

The Rotunda Hospital found breastfeeding rates declined earlier this year due to "a lack of understanding about the Covid-19 virus and how it spreads" but rates have now recovered once again. File picture.

Expanded community supports by a maternity hospital played a critical role in maintaining breastfeeding rates during the public health crisis.

The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin found that at the end of June, seven-out-of-ten mothers had started breastfeeding before being discharged from the hospital.