 News
16th June 2008
Mothers win the right to breastfeed in all public places
Mothers are to get the legal right to breastfeed in any public place.
The Equality Bill will make it an offence to stop any woman from breastfeeding
a baby up to the age of six months. Under current laws, women who breastfeed
in places such as restaurants or bars can be charged under public order or indecency
legislation. Ministers are changing the law in response to concerns that
Britain has the lowest breastfeeding rate in Europe. Three-quarters of
women give their newborn baby breast milk but this falls to 25 per cent after
six months. This is despite the wealth of scientific evidence showing that
it is far more beneficial for babies than feeding them with formula milk. Dr
Geoff Lawson, a paediatrician at Sunderland Royal Hospital, said: "Among
the benefits are immunity, optimal brain development and optimal growth. Not to
mention the social benefits of bonding between mother and baby. "No
one ever says breastfeeding is easy but it is so very, very worthwhile because
of a huge number of proven benefits." The Department of Health has
been running a series of 'Breast is Best' campaigns over the past few years. Surveys
have recorded a slight increase in the number of breastfeeding mothers in that
period. But the effectiveness of the message has been blunted by the fact
that many women feel uncomfortable nursing their baby in public. A Cabinet
Office spokesman said: "Final decisions have yet to be made but the Government
is keen to give new mothers complete confidence to breastfeed while going about
their normal business, for example while on the bus or in a cafe."
But the bill will not go as far as a law passed in Scotland four years ago, which
allows public breastfeeding with no age limit on the child. Last week the
Equalities Minister Harriet Harman revealed the bill, to be published in the coming
weeks, will also ban private members' clubs from treating women as 'second-class
citizens'. It will make it illegal for them to restrict women's access
or deny them the right to vote as full members. Only half of the 2,500
working men's clubs give women full membership rights while some golf clubs stop
women playing at the weekend, restrict access to the golf course, or bar them
from the running of the club. Other measures being considered for the bill
include forcing firms to review salaries to ensure men are not paid more than
their female colleagues. It could make it legal to give jobs to women or
black people above white males, if they are deemed to be of equal merit. Where
to next? | 
