Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their wonderful contributions. They are very knowledgeable. I would count myself as somebody who would know a little about breastfeeding but I have learned a great deal about the structural problems that exist currently.

I would be of the opinion that we need a strong public information campaign on breastfeeding to break that intergenerational cycle in relation to breastfeeding. Many of us would come from families in which nobody that we would know, not our mothers, aunts or other extended family members, would have breastfed. It is not the norm in Irish families because we have such a low breastfeeding uptake. A public awareness campaign should definitely be looked into to raise the possibility.

I found when I was pregnant that breastfeeding was almost mentioned to me as an afterthought. It was almost sprung on me the week before I gave birth as to what I would do. One is completely bombarded. One is trying to process all this information. Having that conversation at such a late stage is not healthy and it is not good. It should be incorporated into secondary school education. It should be a much broader education for society, not only women but their partners because they are such a vital part in the breastfeeding journey. One needs the full support of one's partner because it is so difficult. There is almost pressure on some women to ease the burden at home and give it up, as though it would make everybody's lives much easier if one stopped with this kind of almost nonsense. Without firm support from one's partner at home, it is very difficult.

There are many women who might not have breastfed on their first child. We need to get the message to them that it is okay, that was their experience but when one is having a second child and subsequent children, perhaps a different choice is there for them. It is to give women the confidence to say that they want to change their mind on it. It is not any reflection on their initial decision but that they want to try something different now.

I would like to ask a question in relation to the initial outlay on breastfeeding. The witnesses mentioned it was in or around €500. That is a huge amount of money for anybody. It lends credence to the idea that breastfeeding is some sort of middle-class pursuit and it is not suitable for women who would not fall into this well-off, middle-class category. Would they support a grant being given to women who choose to breastfeed to cover those initial outlays that one would have? Can they suggest any other measures that can be taken to encourage and support more women who would not be from a middle-class background who would not have many financial resources to breastfeed because it is a costly outlay at the start?

My second question would be in relation to the role of local authorities in creating public spaces to allow breastfeeding in our communities out and about in town. One of the witnesses mentioned Dundrum Shopping Centre. If we are to rely on commercial entities to provide public spaces, we will not get them. That is the bottom line. Should local authorities have a role in providing breastfeeding supports?

What do the witnesses see in relation to that?

Another issue, which may have been touched upon in earlier contributions, concerns the impact of the pandemic on breastfeeding rates. Like Ms Byrne, I have many friends who have actually extended their breastfeeding or who initially thought they would do it for a couple of weeks but have continued to do it far beyond it because they are at home, they are not being disturbed, there is no pressure to get out and about and bounce back to normal and carry on like nothing has happened, so for them it has been positive.

However, there has also been a negative impact, and a number of contributors spoke about the maternity service restrictions. Do the witnesses feel that a lack of support in relation to the other maternity issues and the lack of an advocate standing by their side to speak up for them impacts on the number of women who are choosing to breastfeed? Do the witnesses feel that because all of this has been so difficult and women do not have someone to speak up and advocate for them in the couple of days after they give birth, perhaps they want to make things easier for themselves? Perhaps the witnesses have some further views on that.