Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann: recognises that:

- according to the Irish Maternity Indicator Report 2021, Ireland’s breastfeeding rates are among the lowest in the world. Only 62.3% of babies are breastfed at birth compared to 90% in Australia, 81% in the UK and 79% in the USA, with only 37% of babies discharged from hospital being breastfed exclusively. By the time babies are three months old that number has dropped to 31.2%, one of the lowest in Europe;

- the 5 year National Action Plan for breastfeeding in Ireland ran from 2016 to 2021 and included a target to increase breastfeeding rates by 2% annually. Data on breastfeeding rates only commenced in Irish maternity hospitals in 2019, and in that time breastfeeding rates have declined from 63.8% at birth in 2019 to 62.3% in 2020;

- the Lancet Series on breastfeeding in 2016 provides an in-depth analysis of the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding. The Series concluded that breastmilk makes the world healthier, smarter, and more equal; states that the deaths of 823,000 children and 20,000 mothers each year could be averted through universal breastfeeding, along with economic savings of US$300 billion; confirms the benefits of breastfeeding in fewer infections, increased intelligence, probable protection against overweight and diabetes, and cancer prevention for mothers; and represents the most in-depth analysis done so far into the health and economic benefits that breastfeeding can produce;

- there is only one human milk bank on the island of Ireland, located in Co. Fermanagh;

- the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code) is an international health policy framework to regulate the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in order to protect breastfeeding. It was published by the World Health Organisation in 1981 and is an internationally agreed voluntary code of practice, that Ireland has still not fully implemented;

- according to the World Health Organisation’s Marketing of breast-milk substitutes: National implementation of the International Code, Status Report 2022, 32 countries worldwide are currently ‘substantially aligned’ with the Code. Ireland is not one of these countries. The 2022 report concludes: ‘UNICEF and WHO maintain that the $55 billion formula milk industry uses systematic and unethical marketing strategies to influence parents’ infant feeding decisions and exploitative practices that compromise child nutrition and violate international commitments.';

acknowledges:

- the Programme for Government’s commitment to ‘promote an increase in the number of new mothers breastfeeding, by increasing support in our maternity hospitals and primary care centres, through access to lactation specialists and public health nurses’;

- according to a HSE press release of October 2022, 20 new infant feeding and lactation posts have been recruited in the last two years and 44 positions are available nationwide to support parents;

- 110 breastfeeding support groups are operational nationwide supported by the HSE;

- live chat and e-mail breastfeeding supports are available online with experts at mychild.ie Instagram and Facebook;

- the National Action Plan for Breastfeeding 2016 – 2021, has been extended by an additional 2 years to 2023;

- regulations to control the marketing, advertisement and promotion of infant formula and follow-on milk are proposed in the Online Media and Safety Regulations Bill 2021, currently at Second Stage in the Dáil. This Bill includes important provisions to establish Comisiún na Meán (referred to as The Commission). The Bill establishes a requirement for the Commission to introduce media service codes and online service codes having particular regard to the general public health interests of children:

- S 46N(5) Media Service Codes

Provision made for the purpose referred to in subsection (2)(d)(ii) may prohibit or restrict, in accordance with law, the inclusion in programmes of commercial communications relating to foods or beverages considered by the Commission to be the subject of public concern in respect of the general public health interests of children, in particular infant formula, follow-on formula or those foods or beverages which contain fat, trans-fatty acids, salts or sugars;

- S 139K Online Safety Codes

Without prejudice to subsection (2) or (4), an online safety code may prohibit or restrict, in accordance with law, the inclusion in programmes or user-generated content of commercial communications relating to foods or beverages considered by the Commission to be the subject of public concern in respect of the general public health interests of children, in particular infant formula, follow-on formula or foods or beverages which contain fat, trans-fatty acids, salts or sugars;

- although the promotion of infant formula, designed as a breast milk substitute, for newborn babies is prohibited under EU law, infant formula is cross promoted in the market through the marketing and promotion of follow-on formula, a product designed to substitute breast milk for babies over the age of 6 months;

- infant formula is essential for some babies and is a medical necessity that is life-saving in instances where breast milk is not available to babies. It is also a choice, of which all parents are aware. However, this product that is designed to meet the needs of a small number of people is marketed at all parents of new babies;

- bans are currently in place on all marketing of breast milk substitutes including follow on formula in Brazil, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Armenia, Fiji, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Thailand, Bahrain and Mongolia;

and calls on the Government to:

- support the Milk Bank Scheme in Co. Fermanagh, the only one of its kind on the island of Ireland, including:

- providing funding for resources in the data and technology tracing and in transporting milk supplies to recipients;

- providing funding to increase public awareness of the milk bank to encourage volunteers to contribute;

- carrying out a scoping exercise to explore the possibility of replicating the Milk Bank service in the Republic of Ireland with a view to working in collaboration and supporting the work of the existing Milk Bank in Co. Fermanagh;

- work with the HSE to expand the criteria for prescriptions for babies accessing milk from the Milk Bank, noting at present that only premature babies can access milk from the Milk Bank;

- develop a governance structure for breastfeeding in primary care and acute hospital divisions;

- provide breastfeeding training at undergraduate and postgraduate level across relevant disciplines;

- provide education on breastfeeding in all secondary schools as part of the current Social Physical and Health Education course;

- develop a clear referral pathway for mothers requiring additional breastfeeding support, before and after birth, to lactation consultants (IBCLCs) from GP’s, midwives, public health nurses and consultants;

- ring-fence funding for a public awareness campaign on the benefits of breastfeeding, both health and environmental;

- improve provision of information on accessing breastfeeding supports, including the promotion of voluntary groups such as La Leche League, Cuidiú and Friends of Breastfeeding and increase funding to these organisations, in recognition of the essential support services to people breastfeeding in Ireland provided through these voluntary groups;

- work with the HSE to ensure that where meeting spaces are available in public health facilities, breastfeeding support groups can have access to the space to host meetings;

- provide access to suitable breast pumps, free of charge, to all mothers of preterm and hospitalised infants, and breastfeeding mothers hospitalised after maternity /paediatric discharge with support and information from lactation specialists for all mothers who need to use breast pumps;

- implement evidence informed programmes and initiatives to provide support and address barriers for women, with a particular focus on young mothers under the age of 18 and women in the Traveller community;

- ensure clinical midwife/nurse specialist lactation consultants (IBCLC) are appointed within all Irish maternity hospitals and paediatric hospitals, according to a determined births-to support staff ratio, with dedicated CMS/CNS lactation in NICUs;

- ensure dedicated full-time lactation consultants (IBCLC) posts in each of the 9 Community Health Organisations (CHOs) are appointed, according to population need;

- extend the ‘Baby Bundles’ scheme nationwide, and ensure consultation with the Association of lactation consultants in Ireland and voluntary breastfeeding groups on the educational materials and equipment provided in the bundles in relation to feeding babies;

- ensure the Online Safety Codes and Media Services Codes as related to the public health interest of children, which are to be established upon passing of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, are enacted as soon as practicable;

- ensure the Code is fully implemented in Ireland, and ensure no state funding for any marketing of breast milk substitutes is provided to any private sector companies, in particular companies that are marketing breast milk substitutes in international markets aimed at parents and health care workers, or funding initiatives that promote formula feeding including promotional material, free samples in hospitals, sponsorship of helplines and other fundraising activities.