A NOISY protest was made by mums campaigning to save a breastfeeding drop-in service from closure.
The group gathered outside Hampshire County Council's offices in Winchester yesterday morning before a meeting, at which Colette Court, the mayoress of Basingstoke and Deane, gave a deputation on why the service should be saved.
Funds for the North Hampshire drop-in service are set to end next month.
A decision on the service, which runs in Basingstoke, Whitchurch, Kingsclere, Tadley, Overton and Andover, will be made on March 30.
Basingstoke mum Lindsay Lawman has been leading the campaign to save the service. Her deputation at HCC last month inspired the publication of an open letter signed by health visitors, midwives, paediatricians, GPs, breastfeeding councillors, charities and university researchers calling on the government to support mothers to breastfeed.
Ayala Ochert, from World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (UK), who initiated the open letter, said: “We saw Lindsay Lawman’s speech and thought it was inspirational. The main reason for writing the open letter right now is that there was this report and a series of papers published about breastfeeding. It was quite widely reported in the press, but it was reported that Britain has the worst breastfeeding rates in the world. What we want this open letter to reflect is the need to do something about this.”
Mindy Noble, a breastfeeding counsellor in North Hampshire, said: “For the cost of just one nurse or midwife this service reaches 500 women each year with a specialised support service. A breastfeeding counsellor trains for two and a half years so this service cannot be easily replaced.”
Mrs Court, from Whitchurch, added: “It is time for councils to stand up for breastfeeding women and start funding the support they require which is so fundamental to the health of mother and baby and the emotional wellbeing of the family.”
The drop-in sessions have been providing professional breastfeeding support to mums in North Hampshire for nearly three years, funded through a range of grants from the county and borough councils.
It is accessed by 500 women a year, with 1,200 face-to-face visits, and costs around £40,000 - the same as employing one mid-range nurse or midwife.
So far, 150 people have written personal letters to Public Health explaining the importance of the service.
Mrs Lawman said: “Without the drop-ins, I would not still be breastfeeding my son after more than a year. Breastfeeding counsellors have the expertise and time needed to dedicate to the challenging issue of breastfeeding. Our society will reap the rewards if drop-ins are properly funded."
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