Breastfeeding rates improving slightly, says HSE lead

Emma Taaffe and baby Oisín with HSE national breastfeeding co-ordinator Laura McHugh ahead of the HSE National Breastfeeding Week from October 1-7. Picture: Mark Stedman

Interest in breastfeeding is slowly growing in Ireland, with a 5% annual increase in women breastfeeding after leaving hospital, HSE national breastfeeding co-ordinator Laura McHugh said.

Ireland is frequently highlighted by international bodies as having one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe.

However, Ms McHugh said new data gathered from public health nurses, who visit mothers at home within 72 hours of discharge, indicates some change in this.

“Our national data is showing that about 63% of mothers are commencing breastfeeding in hospitals, that figure has maintained the same over the last three years,” she said.

"But what we are seeing as a positive trend is more mothers are still breastfeeding at the first visit by a public health nurse. We are seeing about a 5% increase in those mothers, that tells us there is less of a drop-off in terms of mothers starting breastfeeding.” 

Laura McHugh, HSE national breastfeeding coordinator

The figures show a slight uptick in the number of mothers who are able to keep breastfeeding at home.

The data from last year is showing about 59% of mothers are breastfeeding at the public health nurse visit, it’s a small drop-off, but not as much as what was there before,” she said.

“It’s about a 5% increase over the last three years, the 2019 data was 54%.” 

One reason for this could be easier access to online supports. These grew as a response to the closures of breastfeeding groups during the pandemic.

She said these are being retained at women’s request, in parallel with in-person groups.

"There is a cohort of mothers who like to engage with virtual groups, or maybe they have other children at home and are not able to get to a group,” she said.

In rural areas they may have to travel a distance to go to a group, so being able to access that on Zoom makes it easier.”

The Mychild.ie website lists 110 breastfeeding groups and services, which can be searched by county.

“I live in Clare, and certainly there are lactation consultants here, in Ennis, in Shannon, but that weekly virtual group is a stable offering in terms of service, and very well-attended,” she said.

“The hybrid approach is something we are very interested in, and very highly valued by the women.”

The ‘Ask-the-Expert’ online service has expanded also.

People can log on Monday to Friday for a live chat with lactation consultants, but outside those hours as well, you can send an email and get a response in 24 hours,” she said.

Over the last two years, funding was granted for the equivalent of 34.5 new lactation consultant posts through the Department of Health and the National Maternity Strategy, but this has faced recruitment challenges. The number of 34.5 equates to some posts filled on a full-time basis and some on a part-time basis.

“From this week, of those 34, 20 are in post and 15 are in an active stage of recruitment,” she said.

“Recruitment can be challenging for nursing grades, and certainly there are a number of vacancies in the primary care services in particular. The HSE have recruited 20 of those 34.5 in the last two years.” 

In 2017, there were 15 such posts approved.