Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1387. To ask the Minister for Health the actions being taken to address the inconsistency in breastfeeding advice being given to women across the healthcare service; if any consideration has been given to standardising breastfeeding advice in order that women can rely on the information being given at a vulnerable time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29475/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1388. To ask the Minister for Health the kind of oversight and regulation there is currently on the breastfeeding advice given by private lactation consultants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29476/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1389. To ask the Minister for Health if any consideration is being given to providing a reliable breastfeeding support service where women can access midwife-led support if they require it 24 hours a day; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29477/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1401. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 783 of 27 May 2025, if she will consider providing funding for pilot programmes in select primary care centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29502/25]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1387, 1388, 1389 and 1401 together.

Encouraging mothers to breastfeed is a priority, both for the Department of Health and for the HSE. The Healthy Ireland Framework, Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan, the National Maternity Strategy, the Obesity Policy and Action Plan, and the National Cancer Strategy, all emphasise the importance of supporting mothers who breastfeed, as well as taking action to increase breastfeeding rates in Ireland.

The HSE Breastfeeding in a Healthy Ireland Action Plan 2016-2021 is the framework for progressing supports for breastfeeding in Ireland. A HSE Breastfeeding Action Plan Implementation Group was established to oversee delivery of the plan, and a national breastfeeding coordinator was appointed as lead. The Department of Health works closely with the HSE National Breastfeeding coordinator in the implementation of HSE Breastfeeding Action Plan 2016-2021, which was extended out to 2025. In 2024 the HSE completed a desktop review and published a progress report on the implementation of the thirty-one actions in the Breastfeeding Action Plan. Of the thirty-one actions, fourteen are completed and embedded, fifteen are in progress and two are yet to commence. We recognise that Ireland does have lower rates of breastfeeding than in many other European countries. We are however, seeing some progress as there was an 18.6% increase in the percentage of babies breastfed at 3 months since 2015 (35.4% in 2015 increased to 42% in 2023) and a 20.1% increase in the percentage of babies exclusively breastfed at 3 months since 2015 (26% in 2015 increased to 32% in 2023).

There has been an increased allocation of funding for breastfeeding supports and resources over the past number of years. In 2021, Government provided for additional funding to the HSE of €1.58 million to fund twenty-four additional lactation consultants to support more new mothers in maternity and primary care settings to breastfeed their infants. In the most recent Budget, funding was provided for five more lactation consultant posts to be implemented in 2025 which will bring the dedicated lactation posts employed in the HSE up to 64.1 WTE.

Lactation consultants provide invaluable expert advice and support to mothers who require assistance with commencing or continuing their breastfeeding journey.

The HSE has indicated that it has no governance or oversight over private lactation consultants. Private Lactation consultants are governed by the International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) Commission. The certification is through a process of stipulated number of hours of theory and practical learning. Every IBCLC is required to recertify every 5 years. The IBCLCs have professional code of conduct and public complaints are addressed. The public registry of IBCLC commission allows to verify the credentials of any IBCLC.

Postnatal care starts in the hospital and moves to the community on discharge. Depending on catchment area and suitability, community midwifery services maybe available. There are five maternity post-natal hubs operational, with four more in the planning offering multidisciplinary post-natal support.

Mothers and babies are under the care of maternity services for 6 weeks after birth. Mothers can contact the post-natal or emergency hospital services at any time to access midwifery support.

All mothers and babies are visited by a public health nurse on discharge from hospital. Breastfeeding mothers are provided with additional support if required and can be referred to an infant feeding/lactation nurse/midwife. There are over 230 breastfeeding services, e.g. support groups provided by HSE midwives, public health nurses and volunteer groups in every county.

The HSE also provides an online lactation support service. Email queries can be sent in 24 hours a day and mothers are provided with a response within 24 hours. Live chat with a lactation consultant is available from 10am to 3pm. The staff who provide this service are all certified international board-certified lactation consultants.

The department is committed to providing expert breastfeeding support services for new mothers’ and investment in these services is evident in budget 2025.

The HSE provide parents with evidence-based information and advice via the HSE’s website mychild.ie, social media channels and written information in its various publications ‘My pregnancy, my child 0-2 years, and ‘breastfeeding – a good start in life’.

The HSE are committed to educating their workforce and developed a framework and implementation plan for breastfeeding training and skills development for healthcare professionals. In 2018, two breastfeeding e-Learning units were launched: Supporting Breastfeeding and Managing Breastfeeding Challenges alongside an e-Learning unit on formula feeding. In 2022, three revised breastfeeding modules were launched on hseland.ie: Introduction to breastfeeding, supporting early breastfeeding, ongoing breastfeeding support and formula feeding. As of December 23, the e-learning modules have been completed 10,552 times.

In 2024 the HSE has updated and standardised the education provided to nurses, midwives, and healthcare professionals. Education courses are provided to these healthcare professionals on the HSE land education platform. The HSE has now launched an updated national infant feeding education programme in July 2024. This programme is available in all counties and over eighty infant feeding lactation staff are trained to deliver breastfeeding skills training to health care providers caring for mothers and babies.

In addition to this, the HSE also launched the National Infant feeding education programme for healthcare professionals e-learning module on HSE land. The HSE also has developed updated breastfeeding publications for staff including the National Standards for Infant Feeding in Maternity Services.

Infant feeding/lactation midwives and nurses are available in all maternity and Public Health Nursing services. These staff support mothers who require additional one to one breastfeeding support, and many provide breastfeeding group services in their areas.

There are over 230 breastfeeding services in every county listed on mychild.ie provided free of change and delivered by midwives, public health nurses and breastfeeding leaders and volunteers. These services are comprised of both online and in-person groups. There is also a suite of resources available to new parents online on the HSE MyChild.ie website which provides trusted information from healthcare experts. MyChild.ie website provides information and support services which support new parents’ physical and mental health, pregnancy and birth services and parenting advice on caring for babies and young children.

In 2022 the HSE established an infant feeding forum for maternity services, which included representatives from each of the nineteen maternity services in Ireland. This forum is working on priority actions identified by infant feeding post holders. Currently as of December 2023 this forum has held five meetings.

The HSE also provides an online breastfeeding support service. This service is available 7 days a week and with live chat available from 10am to 3p Monday to Friday.

Last year, the Department of Health formed a breastfeeding steering group to research and design the development of a new whole of government breastfeeding policy. The Government intends to build on the work of the HSE Breastfeeding in a Healthy Ireland Action Plan through the development of this new policy and remains committed to increasing breastfeeding supports to all mothers and families in Ireland. During the development of this breastfeeding policy there will be a public consultation whereby members of the public will be given an opportunity to offer input on how breastfeeding services can be improved. In the Interim, it is expected that the HSE will engage in the Pre-budget Service delivery estimates process to obtain funding for evidence-based pilot projects or new service developments.

I trust this reply is of assistance to you.