Efforts to boost breastfeeding rates paying dividends

Hannah Deasy with her one-year-old son Daniel Deasy Celin: 'This time around because of the legislation, I was able to avail of breastfeeding breaks.' Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Mothers wishing to breastfeed are finally starting to see the benefits of changes in workplace legislation and hospital supports as efforts continue to boost Ireland's low rates.

In 2019, Unicef Ireland warned: “Ireland's rates of breastfeeding are amongst the worst in the world”. 

A key challenge for working mothers was finding time or space to breastfeed, an issue highlighted again this year for World Breastfeeding Week. The Work Life Balance Act 2023 is seeking to address this — women can request breastfeeding breaks of one hour per eight-hour workday for two years. 

Rotunda hospital clinical midwife specialist in lactation Geraldine Gordon advised there was no time limit on the duration of breastfeeding. 

“Breastfeeding your baby before you go to work, pumping during work to protect your supply and reconnecting with your baby when you return home with a breastfeed can make that transition back to the workplace a little easier,” she said.

Funding of €1.5m was allocated to maternity hospitals for lactation consultants in 2021. The Rotunda now offers specialist supports including home-visits and free use of a breast-milk pump. 

New parents may not be aware of these changes, and Ms Gordon urged parents to check the hospital website, or connect with groups like Cuidiu, La Leche League and Friends of Breastfeeding. 

The HSE's own workforce is almost 80% female. The Rotunda offers a dedicated room "with a multi-user electric breast pump, fridge and comfortable seating", Ms Gordon said, in one example of changes workplaces can make. 

HSE national breastfeeding co-ordinator Laura McHugh said up to October its data shows a 5% increase in mothers breastfeeding after hospital compared to 2019. She highlighted easier access to lactation consultants as one reason. 

Hannah Deasy and Daniel Deasy Celin: Ms Deasy received multiple home visits from a Rotunda specialist last year. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

For Dublin-based Hannah Deasy, this was the case as her breastfeeding path was "night and day" over two pregnancies.  

“When I had my first child in 2019, every bit of support I got was private, I couldn’t avail of any public support,” she said.

It was unbelievably stressful and anxiety-inducing to be trying to find private support when my baby was a week old. I genuinely didn’t know what I was doing or who could help me.

In contrast last year, she received multiple home visits from a Rotunda specialist. 

“I didn’t pay anything at all," she said. "I didn’t pay for the pump, I didn’t pay for the tongue-tie work, nothing at all. When my first baby had tongue-tie resolved, after about five weeks, it cost €120 for the consultation and €150 for the procedure.” 

She had not considered combining breastfeeding and the office with her first child, but said: “This time around because of the legislation, I was able to avail of breastfeeding breaks.” 

She added: “I was able to agree with my employer to finish work at 4.30pm, and that was great. Being able to avail of that hour was really beneficial from a physical point of view. The big thing is you feel empowered to be able to raise it.”