The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
WHILE maternity services have been forced to adapt delivery of care due to the pandemic, Covid-19 has not prevented a number of initiatives around breastfeeding at University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL). National Breastfeeding Week is taking place October 1st to 7th with the theme this year of “Feeding the Future-Supporting Breastfeeding through the Pandemic and Beyond”. Breastfeeding rates in Ireland are among the lowest in the world but in July 2021 UMHL saw its highest initiation rate ever with 67.3% of babies having breast milk as their first feed. Clinical Midwife Managers in Infant Feeding, Helen Byrt and Carmen Murphy outline a number of initiatives around breastfeeding at UMHL. Breastfeeding has many proven health benefits for mother and baby. The World Health Organisation and the HSE recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life; with the addition of solid food at six months and continued breastfeeding to two years and beyond. Immediate skin-to-skin contact at birth …
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