Breastfeeding motion at North Lanarkshire Council meeting passes unanimously
A motion passed at a full meeting of North Lanarkshire Council marked the progress made locally with regard to breastfeeding in the 20 years since legislation came into effect.
Councillors Geraldine Woods (Labour, Coatbridge South) and Fiona Fotheringham (SNP, Wishaw) marked the anniversary of the Breastfeeding (Scotland) Act, which resulted from a Private Member's Bill presented by former MSP Elaine Smith.
At the meeting Councillor Woods said: 'There can be no better start in life for babies than to get their mother's milk. It is designer made by mums for their baby,' before mentioning numerous health benefits breastfeeding provides to both mother and baby.
Councillor Woods also elaborated on the importance of the 2005 Act, explaining that it made it an offence to attempt to stop a mother from breastfeeding in public. She said challenging this behaviour could undermine the confidence of mothers and put them off breastfeeding, which is dictated by demand from the baby and thus had to be permitted everywhere.
Seconding, Councillor Fotheringham said her daughter had been born in 2006, soon after the Act came into effect, and that she had seen a 'massive shift' in how women were empowered to breastfeed, before talking about her experiences with her own children and adding that she had shared stories with many other mothers and acknowledged those who were unable or unwilling to do so.
The motion celebrated the fact North Lanarkshire had recently surpassed the 50 per cent milestone for breastfeeding of newborn babies, and congratulated the work of NHS Lanarkshire's Infant Feeding and Maternity Services, as well as those in the council and partner organisations.
It also acknowledged that not all mothers are capable of breastfeeding so efforts to promote its benefits must be supportive, non-judgemental, and inclusive.
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The motion further commended NHS Lanarkshire's maternity services for their collaboration with both North and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnerships, which earned them the UNICEF Achieving Sustainability Gold Baby Friendly Accreditation and supported participation in World Breastfeeding Week which begins on August 1.
No amendments were presented in relation to this motion so it was carried unanimously.
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