James Duddridge Local Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East supports UNICEF Breastfeeding Campaign
On Tuesday the 5th December James backed the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative Call to Action campaign on breastfeeding and has committed to:
- Champion Unicef UK’s Call to Action campaign in Parliament.
- Support their local health services and communities to become Baby Friendly
- Make their workplace breastfeeding friendly
UNICEF UK is calling on government to tackle the UK’s low breastfeeding rates and improve the health of children by leading action to remove the barriers – social, cultural, economic, physical and practical – that make it difficult for women to breastfeed in the UK. Powerful new evidence provides a compelling case to alter UK attitudes and practices, both locally and nationally, in order to support women to breastfeed for as long as they wish.
James said:
“There is overwhelming evidence that breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life; it improves health and cuts costs. And yet the UK has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, with only 34% of babies receiving any breastmilk at six months.
I whole heartedly support UNICEF and encourage both local health services and communities to become baby friendly and urge employers to be breastfeeding friendly. As a country we need to remove the barriers be they social, cultural, economic, physical and practical, that make it difficult for women to breastfeed in the UK.”
Sue Ashmore, Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative Director said:
‘We want to change the conversation around breastfeeding and acknowledge the collective responsibility of us all. We need to recognise that improving the UK’s low breastfeeding rates requires action across government, healthcare and community settings to build systems that support women and families.’
‘It is fantastic to have the support of James Duddridge by making this pledge, he is showing that he knows breastfeeding is a vitally important public health issue and is committed to taking action to support it.’