Dundee mums less likely to breastfeed (Evening Telegraph)

Fewer than half of all mums in Dundee are breastfeeding their babies when they are discharged from hospital, writes Stefan Morkis.
Figures released by NHS Tayside to MSP Marlyn Glen show that although the number of mums breastfeeding is rising, rates of breastfeeding in Dundee are still far lower than elsewhere in Tayside.
In 1997/98, only 39% of mums were breastfeeding at the time of discharge from hospital.

The 2003/04 figures show this has risen to 46% — still nearly 10% lower than the rate for Tayside as a whole.

In Angus, 55% of mums are breastfeeding when discharged from hospital, while in Perth and Kinross the figure is 66%.

Despite the health benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child, by the time they are six weeks old, just 26.4% of Dundee babies are being breastfed — the lowest rate in Scotland.




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