 News
: Breastfeeding DVD - Free to pregnant women
4th November 2008
Free copy of DVD – entitled "From Bump to Breastfeeding" – will be given
to every expectant mother across the UK.
The health benefits of breastfeeding to mother and child are huge. A
breastfed baby is 5 times less likely to end up in hospital with gastroenteritis
than a formula fed baby.The main reason that women stop breastfeeding
early is because they lack information and support. That's also why younger
mothers from poorer backgrounds are less than half as likely to start
breastfeeding than older mothers.
Production is now complete on our groundbreaking breastfeeding DVD titled
"From Bump to Breastfeeding: following real mothers' stories to find out
how", which is already going out free to pregnant women in the UK.
The films are being made in collaboration with the Department of Health
(DoH) and many key professional and charitable organisations including
UNICEF. The DVD, produced and directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker
Jacqui Smith and edited by BAFTA nominated editor Sasha Olswang, aim to
motivate and enable the next generation of mothers to make a supported
choice to breastfeed by providing real-world stories, advice and techniques
in a non-didactic and accessible way.
The DVDs will be given free to all pregnant women in England, Scotland,
Wales and N. Ireland. This is one inspirational example of what can be
achieved when the funding is in place. Huge thanks to the Tedworth Charitable
Trust, the Department of Health, the Welsh Assembly, NHS Health Scotland
and the Northern Ireland Health Promotion Agency for making this crucial
project a reality. Health professionals can order via Prolog in England,
with separate arrangements in place for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
See the 'health worker' pages for more details. The English version has
the additional languages Urdu, Bengali, Polish and Somali, as well as
English subtitles and British Sign Language. There is also a dual Welsh/English
version, also with the above languages (except BSL).
Best Beginnings founder & CEO Alison Baum said: “Despite previous work
promoting the huge benefits of breastfeeding, the reality is that for
most young women, especially those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds,
bottle feeding is still the norm. The focus groups involved in creating
the DVD helped to highlight the barriers pregnant women face when considering
how to feed their new born child, such as:
- I think breastfeeding is rare that’s a barrier for me. Especially
around our area. Pregnant mother, Birmingham
- ‘’My problem is I’m not a very good reader, I learn by either being
shown, you know someone sitting there doing a practical demonstration
or someone doing the demonstration on you, I don’t like reading, I hate
reading.’’Pregnant woman, Hertfordshire
- “Most people know that it is better for the baby, but you need a bit
of confidence to try it.” Pregnant mother, Northumberland
The new DVD ‘from bump to breastfeeding – following real mothers' stories
to find out how’ provides a source of support for women, that is visual
and does not have the usual time constraints of a busy antenatal clinic.
The mother can feel in control of the knowledge that she can access at
her own pace and in her own time.
Expectant mothers should ask their midwife for the DVD
You can read more about the DVD www.bestbeginnings.info.
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