ABSTRACT
Infant Feeding 2000 survey 127 Health promotion: whom are we targeting? 129 Midwives, attitudes, knowledge and skills 131 Effective clinical practices and antenatal education 133 Mother and baby skin-to-skin contact and early initiation of breastfeeding 135 Optimal positioning and attachment at the breast 135 Mother and infant positions 137 The ‘demand’ feeding concept and the influence of attitudes 140 Which babies can be relied upon to lead their own feeding? 140 Which mothers can respond appropriately to their baby’s feeding cues? 142 Summary of key points 144 References 145 Further reading 145 Further resources 146
Breastfeeding is an emotive subject. It provokes mixed responses from both mothers and midwives. Although it is seen as a ‘natural’ choice to many, our society has become a bottle-feeding culture. Bottle-feeding babies with artificial milk is widespread despite the ‘breast is best’ message. This presents very difficult issues when considering health promotion. Is it as simple as preaching the ‘breast is best’ louder and in different ways? Or is the answer more complex? This chapter examines these questions, suggests ways in which health promotion can be more effective and reviews initiatives that have been shown to work.
