Chamber and committees

Thank you. I will move on to a question about legislative competence. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the Scottish Government has accepted that, to be legislatively competent, the bill must use the definition of the protected characteristic of sex and, within that, the definition of women as applied under the Equality Act 2010? Can she confirm that no further amendments will take the bill outwith legislative competence?

Mums and babies across Scotland are missing out on vital health visitor appointments. I know that, because it happened to me—my daughter was not seen for more than 10 months. Parents in Angus have been told that their babies could be without a visit for up to a year.

Health visitors are important, because they check on a child’s wellbeing but can also identify if mums are experiencing postnatal depression. The First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care cannot bury their heads in the sand over the issue. Will the First Minister therefore intervene urgently to ensure that mums and babies are not denied those crucial visits because of staff shortages?

The Music Venue Trust welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement that he would continue the 75 per cent relief to business rates for grass-roots music venues. That support is vital to keeping those community venues open, but it has not been replicated in Scotland.

Grass-roots music venues are concerned about their future. Does the cabinet secretary realise that decisions taken in Scotland on business rates relief have dire consequences for the music industry?

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to support the music industry, in relation to sustaining small grass-roots venues. (S6O-03029)

Will the member give way?

Will the member give way?

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is offering to local authorities to help people stuck in temporary accommodation. (S6O-03010)

What the minister failed to mention is that more than 15,000 households are stuck in temporary accommodation. “The homelessness monitor: Scotland 2024” predicts that homelessness will increase by 33 per cent by 2026. I find it shocking that the Scottish National Party Government has chosen to cut the housing budget and to starve councils of the funding that is necessary to tackle those issues. Does the Scottish Government plan to declare a housing emergency to ensure that the predictions in the homelessness monitor do not come to fruition?

I do not think that anyone can dispute the health and wellbeing benefits that breastfeeding provides not just for mothers but for babies. I, too, welcome the tone of the debate.

It is right that we celebrate the progress that is being made in encouraging mothers to breastfeed, but we should also acknowledge that some mothers experience challenges when it comes to breastfeeding and that some mothers cannot breastfeed at all. We have struck the right balance today in making sure that the messaging is clear.

I have come to the chamber today with two asks of the Scottish Government: to carefully consider the messaging around stigma both against women who breastfeed in public and against mothers who cannot breastfeed—many members have pointed that out—and to carefully consider the support that mothers are meant to receive after their baby is born.

I make those asks of the Government because some mothers struggle to breastfeed. That was certainly my experience when I became a new mother in 2022. I do not think that I will ever forget how crippled by anxiety I was and how isolated I felt when I had to end my breastfeeding journey. I just felt as though I was not able to provide for my baby. It was an awful time. However, it is important to me to share my experience, because I want to give mothers who have struggled a voice and to ensure that they do not feel alone. The debate on breastfeeding is all very upbeat and positive, but it carries an undertone for those mothers who, for many reasons, struggle when they try to give their babies the best possible start in life.

I will draw on my own experience. I was so excited to start my own breastfeeding journey. In the run-up to Charlotte’s birth, I had spent weeks and months reading as much information as I could, I had bought equipment and I was so ready to welcome the new addition to my family. However, breastfeeding just was not meant to be. The reason was that I had a traumatic experience during my daughter’s birth, because I had taken morphine during her delivery. Charlotte was sleepy due to the side-effects of the medication that I had taken and she had absorbed, so the latching and the initial breastfeeding were not as natural as they should have been. However, as I had been going through labour, no one had explained to me the impacts of taking that medication and its consequences for my baby. Had I had another option, I would probably have reconsidered my decision for that reason—as I would do were I to be in the same circumstances again. In my view, it gave me a bit of a setback in breastfeeding my baby.

However, nothing that occurred during labour or the birth process stopped me breastfeeding; that happened shortly after I was able to bring Charlotte home. New mothers receive many visits from midwives and health visitors. A midwife who weighed Charlotte noticed that her weight had gone down. Again, I had not been informed before the birth that that was natural for breastfed babies. The midwife suggested to me that Charlotte could go on to combination feeding. However, that was not what I had planned or what I wanted for my baby. That put me in the position of asking myself what I should do. Should I still try to breastfeed, as had been my plan, or should my baby go on to combination feeding, as the midwife had suggested? We followed the latter path. In the end, Charlotte just wanted to bottle feed and was not much interested in breastfeeding any more. Unfortunately, that ended my breastfeeding journey after four months. It certainly was not what I had planned or what I wanted, but it was the option that was available to me at that point in time. I know so many other mothers to whom that has happened.

Another issue that cropped up throughout my pregnancy and after Charlotte was born was the number of midwives and health visitors I encountered and was introduced to—they chopped and changed so many times. I ended up with three midwives, and I am currently on my fourth health visitor. Such inconsistency does not allow new mothers to bond, build important relationships and share information. They need to build a level of trust and feel that the professionals are looking after them so that they can then give them the best information to help them to support their babies.

That is why one of my asks of the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise concerns the support that new mothers receive once they have had their babies. We must examine the resources that are available for midwives and health visitors. I know that the lack of such resources is rife in Lanarkshire, the area where I am from, but it is replicated in many other health board areas across Scotland. That does not give mothers and babies the best start, because they do not have a bond with someone they trust. We must consider the support that women receive once their babies are home and they are starting the process of being new mothers.

Having said that, I do not blame our incredible NHS workers, who do so much. Being understaffed and overworked adds to the pressures that they face, which in turn does not give mums the best start when they bring their babies home.

I know that I am over time, so I will conclude there. I say to the minister that we need to listen to mothers if we can, particularly those who are struggling to breastfeed, and we need to look at the process and the support that mothers receive once they bring their baby home. We need to ensure that they have access to a consistent health visitor and a consistent midwife to ensure that they get the best possible support so that they can provide for their baby.

I have been listening to what the minister is saying because I am really interested in this subject. In particular, take-up of breastfeeding tends to be lower in areas of high deprivation. Has the Scottish Government done any research on that? Is there a clear focus on ensuring that we are getting to the people whom we really need to get to?