Chamber and committees

I am delighted to speak in today’s Scottish Government debate on celebrating and supporting breastfeeding. Breast milk is the perfect source of nutrition for babies, and I am lucky enough to have fed three babies. We will hear much about the health benefits.

In the middle ages, breast milk was deemed to possess magical qualities, and that was not far from the truth. The motion is right to welcome the rise in Scotland’s breastfeeding rates, the Scottish Government’s targeted investment of £9 million and the support from infant feeding teams and family nurse partnerships, which is beginning to address the stark inequalities that exist for some groups. However, we need much more than that—we need a radical shift in thinking and actions.

Ambition is key and, for the long term, we should aim to double the current breastfeeding rate so that 94 per cent instead of 47 per cent of babies are breastfeeding at six to eight weeks old. We should look for creative ways to inspire many more young women to successfully nurture their babies for the first six months of life with breast milk only, as is recommended by the World Health Organization. We must do more to tackle social attitudes towards breastfeeding mums of all ages, in the recognition that women’s breasts are first and foremost for nurturing children.

That is a huge challenge, but it should absolutely be our ambition, because breastfeeding rates in other countries demonstrate that achieving that is entirely possible, as we have heard. The Scottish Government has a commendable history of investing in children’s wellbeing—from the Scottish child payment to prenatal care and the 1,140 hours of early years education. The baby box initiative is also noteworthy, and I hope to hear, from the minister, more detail about its role in normalising breastfeeding.

I think that that is a little bit off topic, but we definitely need to work really hard to do that.

Not every mum will succeed at breastfeeding, but there is no need for guilt, because our best will always be good enough. Social acceptance also has a key role to play, and mums need to feel that it is okay to feed their baby wherever and whenever they are hungry. I urge employers to play their part by joining the breastfeeding friendly Scotland scheme. It is quick and easy to become a supportive space for breastfeeding mums.

Breastfeeding groups are vital, too. They provide a safe environment where mums can observe others feed and swap tips on suitable clothes for covering up during feeding. Let us face it: no mum wants their post-pregnancy belly on show. Witnessing the progress of mums who were struggling to feed one week but thriving the next is a big boost to confidence, and sharing challenges honestly with volunteers or other mums can sometimes be easier than doing so with busy health professionals.

Presiding Officer, I could talk about breastfeeding all day. Much of my passion comes from personal experience, but it is also to do with the mountains of irrefutable evidence showing that breastfeeding gives our babies and children the very best start in life. That is certainly worth celebrating and supporting.

I will finish with Keith Hansen’s words in his contribution to The Lancet breastfeeding series, which encapsulate the extensive health, nutritional and emotional benefits that breastfeeding provides to children, mothers and wider society. He said:

“If breastfeeding did not already exist, someone who invented it today would deserve a dual Nobel Prize in medicine and economics.”

After feeding your baby for three months, did you find it a bit of a nightmare to have to wash and sterilise bottles, heat up milk and mix bottles? I certainly found that incredibly difficult and, had I realised that, I would never have given up breastfeeding.

I hope to hear the detail on that. I asked a parliamentary question about that and the minister confirmed the position.

Not too long ago, most of our grannies embraced breastfeeding but—sadly—the huge surge in popularity of modern formula brought a significant shift in infant feeding practices. The decline in breastfeeding resulted in a profound loss of knowledge that had previously been shared across families and communities, and the network of support that so many mothers relied on for breastfeeding success disappeared in a short time. I acknowledge the role of artificial formula milk, but it should not be normalised as a convenient like-for-like alternative to breastfeeding, because it is not.

Beyond the well-established nutritional and physical health benefits of breastfeeding, a growing body of research highlights its far-reaching psychological effects—for example, breast milk stimulates cognitive, social and emotional brain development in our babies and children, and those advantages last a lifetime. The benefits are not confined to our children; breastfeeding mothers often report lower levels of anxiety and stress, and clinical evidence backs that.

Breastfeeding has qualities that make it really magical. The very first feed after birth is rightly hailed as a baby’s first vaccination—it is an injection of immunisation from the mum. When a mum or child is sick, breast milk adapts to provide specific antibodies to combat the illness. Morning breast milk has increased cortisol, so that it acts like an energy drink to wake up a child and, in the evening, melatonin rises and acts as a sleeping potion, which helps to develop a baby’s circadian rhythm. Best of all, when mums breastfeed, the love hormone oxytocin is released, which induces a strong sense of love, calm and connectedness between mums and babies.

I know from my work as a breastfeeding peer-support volunteer that many mums look forward to making the magical breastfeeding connection with their baby. Although a tiny number of mums cannot physically breastfeed, many mums feel as if they fail.

Most often, that stems from a lack of intensive support in the crucial early hours, days and weeks post birth. However, until we rebuild our multigenerational network of family and community knowledge, mums will still require the assistance of health professionals and volunteers to overcome challenges such as low milk supply, mastitis and latching issues.

I am happy with that, and it is good that you are going to look at that in more detail.

I want to ask about curriculum content. We heard from Professor Stobart about the fact that we do not learn in a vacuum. He told us:

“We need to have mastery of information, facts and basics in order to be able to think about them and use them.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 8 November 2023; c 9.]

Is it the intention of the reviews that more explicit guidance will be provided on the content of the curriculum in the broad general education? What is the role of the Government and its agencies in providing guidance on curriculum content?

It is good to hear that you are looking at that balance. You are absolutely right in what you said.

Will the curriculum review include an on-going focus on wellbeing and, specifically, anxiety? I am interested in whether we can look at imparting knowledge on why young people continue to feel anxious and giving them a deeper understanding of what is going on in their brain that is making them feel anxious, as well as effective tools for tackling that. I suppose that I am talking about early intervention to prevent that from progressing into something more serious.

Good morning, minister. Previously, we have heard directors of finance and COSLA arguing that budget reductions result in councils spending all their time and money on reacting to problems instead of trying to prevent them from arising. What are your reflections on that?

Do you see that as something that you can embed in your frameworks?

That is helpful.