Magda Sachs quoted the strategy document for the UK on breastfeeding:
"Breastfeeding saves lives and protects the health of mothers and babies
both in the short and long term."

And then she comments that 'this is a plain statement and represents our
Department of Health being
very very clear about this as a national priority!' Hear, hear.

I can add my exhortations to check the document you'll find at the URL
below, and have someone trustworthy near you to verify that you really are
reading these words and not just hallucinating them after beating your head
on that brick wall one too many times.  It's like they actually GET IT about
what needs to be in place to enable women to breastfeed.  

Magda posted on this two days ago with no responses so far, and I just have
to say how much I admire the UK health services approach to improving BF
rates.  This really shows how policy can be formed and implemented if you
don't have a market-driven service that profits from ill health to contend
with.  I'm pretty impatient with being asked by Europeans to explain why
there is such vehement opposition in my own country to any sickness industry
reform containing a 'public option' (because how should *I* know what that
opposition is about?).  A document like this just points up the difference
in approach when disease prevention benefits the policy-making body as much
as it does the populace.  

http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digita
lasset/dh_106497.pdf

Read it and weep, unless you live in the UK, in which case you can read it
and celebrate. 

Rachel Myr
Happy to stay an ex-pat in Kristiansand, Norway

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