Write to your MP

Dear Member of Parliament,

Congratulations on your recent success.

I was dismayed to hear that NHS Gloucestershire has recently stopped all funding to the Gloucestershire Breastfeeding Supporters’ Network (GBSN) (www.breastfeedingsupporters.org.uk) and wanted to inform you of the situation and of the impact of this decision on families in your constituency.

GBSN is a network of 12 member groups that run weekly, drop-in support groups, which are open to all expectant and new mothers in the county.  This service is completely free-of-charge to mothers who attend and is provided by our volunteer Peer Supporters in conjunction with a Breastfeeding Specialist Worker.  This resource is unique to Gloucestershire and should be preserved.

One of our groups, MOMS in Quedgeley, is already scheduled to close on 1 June 2010 as a result of the cessation of funding.  If more groups are forced to close, mothers will be reliant on hospital midwives, community midwives and health visitors – and as you know these professionals already have extremely full caseloads.  Currently, all midwives and health visitors are able to signpost our groups but if coverage over the county becomes patchy this will no longer be possible.

The implications of closure will be profound:

• early breastfeeding rates in Gloucestershire will decrease from an already low rate of 45% at 6-8 weeks.
• there will no longer be a universal intervention within Gloucestershire thus undermining the county’s efforts to achieve UNICEF Baby Friendly status.
• more babies will be prematurely weaned from breast milk as our groups will no longer serve to ‘normalise’ the experience of longer-term breastfeeding.
• midwives and health visitors will be required to fully support mothers to breastfeed – in many cases this will require additional time and training.

As I am sure you can appreciate, the closure of groups will hinder the development of an acceptance of breastfeeding as the physiological norm for infant feeding.  It will result in adverse physical and mental health outcomes for both mothers and babies.  For an individual this is bad enough but as a society we will also see increased costs to the health service in the short, medium and long-term.

There will be an additional impact on the women in our community.  Currently there are support groups across the county, many of them based in Children’s Centres in areas of high socio-economic deprivation.  Many of the women who attend our groups for support while breastfeeding go on to train as voluntary Peer Supporters.  This training course is accredited by the Open College Network (OCN) and is open to all local women who have breastfeed their child for at least 3 months.  The training provides women with extra skills, builds self-esteem, and acts as a springboard for further educational and vocational opportunities.   To remove this training opportunity will adversely affect the outcomes for many women in our community.

On a personal level, [please insert your own experiences of your local group and your reasons for volunteering with GBSN]

I would be grateful for answers to the following queries:

1. how will the government follow through with the stated aim of supporting breastfeeding as a social good?
2. how will the government support voluntary sector organisations such as GBSN in fundraising to undertake work that would otherwise be the responsibility of the health service?
3. will extra funding be made available to enable midwives and health visitors to undertake the support currently provided by the Peer Supporters and Specialist Workers at our groups?
4. in the absence of a service promoting and supporting breastfeeding such as that provided by GBSN, what impact will the higher incidence of infection, eczema, diabetes and cancer of the ovary and breast have upon NHS Gloucestershire?

Many thanks for your time.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Resources

NHS: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Breastfeeding/Pages/Advantages.aspx

unicef: http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/