Calls for new UK government to protect breastfeeding amid glut of recent studies

29 Nov 2019 --- The upcoming UK election could provide a key opportunity for the government to protect breastfeeding. This is according to a joint statement released by 15 organizations, including the Breastfeeding Network, the National Childbirth Trust and Swansea University. The statement calls on the new government to prioritize the first 1,001 days of a child’s life – from conception to age two – by providing better information and support for breastfeeding families. Breast milk offers a variety of benefits that formula cannot yet replicate, with a recent study finding that it can help prevent heart disease in premature babies.

Breastfeeding can be a straight-forward way of protecting both children and mothers from a wide range of preventable health issues, including obesity and mental health problems. In addition to well-documented health outcomes, supporting breastfeeding will also contribute to a stronger economy. The statement notes that potential annual savings to the NHS are estimated at about £40 million (US$52 million) per year from just a moderate increase in breastfeeding rates.

As a result, the organizations are calling on all political parties to commit to a variety of actions if elected. Some of these include:

• Appointing a permanent, multi-sectoral infant and young child feeding strategy group and implementing a national strategy to improve infant and young child feeding practices.
• Including actions to promote, protect and support breastfeeding in all policy areas where breastfeeding has an impact.
• Protecting babies from commercial interests by bringing the full International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes into UK law and enforcing this law.
• Commissioning and funding universal breastfeeding support programs.

The statement notes that breastfeeding has been viewed by governments as a lifestyle choice, with parents left to cope on their own. For many women, trying to breastfeed without support or stopping before they want to is deeply upsetting. The situation is made worse by fragmented care, and poor and often conflicting advice from those they are seeking support from.

A plethora of evidence
Adding to the wealth of research detailing the varying benefits of breast milk, a new review paper has found that its early use could play a vital role in preventing heart disease in prematurely born infants. 

Feeding premature infants with human milk instead of formula could help fight heart disease.Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons and the Rotunda Hospital in Ireland pointed to a study examining a group of 30 preterm-born adults, who – as expected – all had smaller heart chambers then people born at full-term. However, the smaller heart chambers were less profound for the exclusively human milk-fed group in comparison to those who were exclusively formula-fed. 

The researchers theorize that breast milk helps prevent heart disease by better regulating hormones and growth factors, strengthening the infant’s immune system, reducing inflammation and possibly by improving the metabolism of the child.

“The current evidence comes from observational studies and highlights the strong link between early breast milk administrations and improvement in long-term heart health, but it lacks concrete mechanistic explanations. More studies on the composition of breast milk could make clear exactly what causes these health benefits, which could, in turn, lead to better treatment options,” says Afif EL-Khuffash, Honorary Clinical Professor of Paediatrics at RCSI and Consultant Neonatologist at The Rotunda Hospital.

However, some of the bioactive components of milk could be altered by a mother’s postnatal psychosocial distress. This is according to a study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, which found that stress could alter maternal gut microbiota, which in turn may affect the bacteria present in milk. 

Although causality could not be identified, the study established a potential relation between maternal psychosocial distress and milk bacteria in a population of healthy women after term deliveries. Women with higher levels of psychosocial distress showed a lower bacterial diversity in their milk microbiota at three months postpartum, in comparison to women with lower distress.

It is also essential that studies into breast milk broaden to encompass differences across global populations as there have been some reports indicating that human milk composition varies across different geographies and ethnicities. However, a recent Fonterra-led study focusing on women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found that their average concentrations of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), phospholipids (PLs), and gangliosides (GAs) were within the typical ranges reported for other ethnic cohorts. 

Notably, the researchers of the UAE study underscore that there are more similarities than differences for HMOs, PLs, and GAs in human milk from different geographical locations and ethnicities. This suggests that each component has a specific biological and functional role linked to the timing of lactation.

A study earlier this month also found that administering probiotics to premature babies via breast milk may be the key to preventing severe gut infections and other intestinal problems. This came as the EU’s new regulations for infant and follow-on formula came under fire for not advising that omega 6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA) is added in at least the same amount as omega 3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). 

By Katherine Durrell