 Y Llywydd A Have A Lookyn, yn fawr fel gyw rhai, gweld â Siaradau, a gallwn fawr busnes dinidolion, yn dŵr ni'n meddwl agor lleol sydd wedi'i gweinyddio ar y cyfrifio a'i rannu ni. Felly, rydyn ni'n cael ei meddwl fan hynny yn fawr, yn dod o'r ni, i gael ddechrau i'i meddwl ar y cyfrifio yn dŵr, i gael fawr am y presiden i'ch gweinyddio, gan yrydd yn ni gael, ond yn chi'n meddwl, i gael e'n meddwl i'ch meddwl i'ch meddwl I have been pleased to be able to lead a debate today on the important issue of breastfeeding, which is not discussed enough either in society or in Parliament, according to SPICE. It has never been the principal subject of a government-led debate in the Scottish Parliament in all the time that the Parliament has been here. That is concerning, because low breastfeeding rates cost money and lives, as proven in the UNICEF commission report of last year preventing disease and saving resources and I'll expand on this later. But firstly I want to welcome the health workers, mums and babies in the gallery from my constituency and from other parts of Scotland and I want to extend a particularly warm welcome to Jenny Warren who was our national breastfeeding adviser until 2005. Unfortunately that post no longer exists and I think that's a bit of a problem since the WHO strategy spells out the need to appoint a national breastfeeding co-ordinator and we don't seem to have an infant feeding adviser in post either. A breastfeeding friendly Scotland needs commitment and understanding from our young people so I'm also pleased that members of Co-Bridge and Christ and Youth Forum have joined us here today and are taking an interest in the issue. Breastfeeding mum Emily Slaw's abuse on Facebook shows us that appalling misogynistic insults are still being aimed at mothers for normal nurturing maternal behaviour and I want to congratulate Emily and the thousands who supported her from across the UK in protesting against such atrocious attitudes. I don't have time to go into the sexual politics but I'm sure others will do so. I just want to say it's a crazy situation that it's okay for breasts to be ogled at on page 3 but not seen in public to feed hungry babies. During the passage of my private members' bill I detailed the advantages of mother's milk and I'll leave it to others to mention the undisputed health benefits of this unique designer food. Today I want to concentrate my limited time on other aspects of our low breastfeeding rates and the effect on our nation's health. In the politics of breastfeeding, Gabrielle Palmer tells us that every 30 seconds a baby dies from infections due to a lack of breastfeeding and the use of bottles, artificial milks and other risky products. She goes on to say that if a multinational company developed a product that was nutritionally balanced and delicious food, a wonder drug that both prevented and treated disease cost almost nothing to produce and could be delivered in quantities controlled by consumers' needs, the announcement of this find would send its shares rocketing to the top of the stock market. However, of course, instead of women who produced this miraculous substance being celebrated, supported and encouraged to feed their designer food to their babies. Big corporations profit from selling an inferior substitute, so how did that happen? In the late 1800s, improvements in dairy production led to whey surplus and it needed a market outlet and that became the base for artificial baby milk. Not because research proved it to be the most suitable food, but because it was there and because it was cheap. Big business found an outlet for a by-product of the milk industry and then they solved that inferior product via aggressive marketing to women who then paid for it rather than using the fabulous exclusive free product that they produced themselves. It is, frankly, quite unbelievable. In their global strategy for infant and young child feeding, WHO and UNICEF say that the lack of breastfeeding and especially the lack of exclusive breastfeeding during the first half year of life are important risk factors for infant and childhood morbidity and mortality. In other words, not breastfeeding can be very bad for children's health. As a society, we shy away from putting it in those terms and I think that that is perhaps in case we offend those who have chosen to artificially feed or those who simply cannot breastfeed. At the latter, a tiny minority is less than 1 per cent and there are other options like milk banks, which I think is an issue that needs further discussion. But in worrying about offending some parents, we actually put lives at risk and we failed to take important steps to challenge our ill health and obesity and we spend vast sums dealing with the consequences. We really need to ensure that society is well educated in the wonders of breast milk and the dangers of artificial milk so that families can make real informed choices rather than just following social norms with no idea of the risks. Most parents want what is best for their children, but I do not believe that the majority actually know what formula milk is and why it is so different to breast milk. It is understandable then that so many choose to use it. In the UNICEF commission report, which I mentioned earlier, it not only tells us that low breastfeeding rates lead to an increased incidence of illness with a significant cost to the NHS, but it also put those facts in too hard figures. That is probably for the first time. That shows that moderate increases in breastfeeding translate into huge cost savings. For example, if only half the mothers who do not breastfeed were to do so for up to 18 months, there would be 865 fewer cases of breast cancer saving £21 million and improved quality of life equating to more than £10 million for each annual cohort of first-time mothers. If 45 per cent of babies were exclusively breastfed for four months and 75 per cent in neonatal units were breastfed at discharge, there would be over 3,000 fewer babies hospitalised with gastroenteritis and nearly 6,000 fewer babies hospitalised with respiratory illness and over 300 fewer cases of the potentially fatal disease NEC. Together, that would save more than £16.3 million. Those were all in the first category of savings, where it was possible to provide quantitative economic models based on strong evidence. However, there are another three categories, including an increase in IQ, fewer cases of SIDS and reductions in childhood obesity. Those categories need a wee bit more research. However, the report shows conclusively that breastfeeding is a major public health issue and that low rates cost the NHS millions each year. What should we do? I propose better support in communities and the inclusion of breastfeeding education in school curriculums, as well as giving proper information about the risks of not breastfeeding to parents. I feel that we need regular reports to Parliament on the progress of the Scottish Government's framework and the specific steps that are taken to increase rates, sustain breastfeeding and change societal attitudes. The report that I mentioned tells us that we need breastfeeding to be a priority for all NHS boards, effective implementation of baby-friendly initiative standards and access to well-trained health professionals that understand the benefits of breastfeeding, further research and funding and strengthening and using legislation. I like the Breastfeeding Scotland Act. As far as I'm aware, it's only been used once, resulting in a slap in the wrist letter for a company who verbally abused a mother and baby and threw them out onto Suckey Hall Street. I hope that women report any attempts to stop them breastfeeding in public to the police, because it's illegal and I hope that proper action can be taken. Tell us why the promotion leaflet for the Breastfeeding Act has not been reprinted, because that's important. It's worrying that so many people talk about discrete breastfeeding, and the Government's own website does that, too. We need to be seeing it and talking about it if we're to fundamentally change social attitudes and encourage others to breastfeed. On Monday, blogger Mama Bean made the point that breastfeeding shouldn't be a secret art form preserved for private rooms and hush conversations. We really need to increase Government commitment to ensure that the barriers for mothers are removed and for society to recognise that breastfeeding is normal and should be seen in public, and the reward for that will be a much healthier population, less illness for babies and massive savings for the NHS. So, Presiding Officer, celebrating and supporting breastfeeding is good for mums and babies is good for society and it's good for the public parts, but breast is indeed best. Thank you very much. I now call on Cara Hylton to be followed by Jamie Hepburn, as we're very tight for time today. Up to four minutes, please. Apologies, Presiding Officer. I didn't hear you then. I begin by congratulating Elaine Smith on securing this debate and on our excellent contribution. Elaine's obviously got a long history of champion breastfeeding both inside and outside the Parliament and this debate is certainly a timely one. When the Breastfeeding Scotland Bill was passed back in 2004, Elaine Smith said that the bill is not an end but the beginning of the Parliament pursuing practical ways to support and encourage breastfeeding. 2004 was also the year that I first became a mum and I still remember being annoyed at the time that I was kept in hospital for four nights after my son was born until I could get breastfeeding established. The other mums in the ward, they were all formula feeding and got the home the next day, but I was determined to breastfeed even though it was a lot harder than what I imagined. Looking back, my longer stay in hospital was absolutely vital in ensuring that I could breastfeed my son and he was exclusively breastfed for the first six months or at least that's what I thought until my mum told me later that she'd given him some ice cream. But I've since gotten on to breastfeed. My other two children, most recently my youngest, who was seven weeks premature and was breastfed through a tube until he was able to manage himself, but I have to confess the idea of feeding them in public always filled me with dread and like many many mums I would plan my day to avoid being out at feeding time and have to admit I always felt slightly envious of my bottle feeding friends who could be out all day without any worry. Leaving home after having your first child is always a challenge to be fair. It was lunchtime I think before I got out for the first six months, but it can even be more of a challenge when you're breastfeeding. In fact research suggests that half of UK women who have breastfed in public have had at least one negative experience. Despite the widespread recognition that breast is best, in many places in many of our communities it's virtually impossible to feed a baby in public without people staring at you and without attracting both verbal and non-verbal signs of disapproval and sadly for too many mums these negative reactions can lead them to stop breastfeeding altogether. I was shocked to read about the experiences of Emily Slough who was thrown out of sports direct for breastfeeding her eight-month-old baby and then worth still subjected to abuse and social media labelled as a tramp and subjected to a whole host of shocking comments just for feeding her baby. Someone suggested that it wouldn't be more dignified if she breastfed in a public toilet. Emily fought back and organised mass breastfeeding protests. Thousands of mums came out in support of Emily across the UK. Many more signed an online petition demanding that sports direct apologise and stop discriminating against breastfeeding mums. While mums here are protected by the Breastfeeding Scotland Act, as Elaine Smith has mentioned, many women are simply unaware that this vital protection exists. The act makes it a criminal offence to stop or attempt to stop mums from feeding in public, and given the recent outcry, surely the time is now right to do more to publicise this landmark legislation and send out the message that mums in Scotland who want to breastfeed in public have got the full protection of the law behind them. I hope that that's something that the minister will consider, because it's absolutely vital that we do more to promote breastfeeding rates to mums of all backgrounds across Scotland. We've had many debates in the chamber about child poverty and inequality, but one of the best ways of tackling health inequalities and giving our children the best start in life is through breastfeeding. For the past decade, breastfeeding rates have remained largely static. With half of mums breastfeeding at 10 days and only one in four mums breastfeeding exclusively six to eight weeks later, nine out of 10 women who stopped breastfeeding before their baby is six weeks old say that they would like to have breastfed longer. Often mums just need a bit more support and more information, and here breastfeeding support groups are absolutely vital. This is especially important for mums in more deprived areas where breastfeeding rates are amongst the lowest, where mums are often younger and where there's less likely to be a family history of breastfeeding. Too often we hear mums being told, just give the wee one a bottle so that they can get a rest. Too often breastfeeding mums are being made to feel that the milk alone isn't enough to sustain a large or hungry baby when this simply isn't true. It's absolutely vital that the Scottish Government addresses this important public health issue by doing more to promote health benefits to mums and babies, by ensuring that every mum can access the peer and professional support that they need, and perhaps most importantly by promoting and celebrating breastfeeding in shops, cafes, libraries, parks and public places across Scotland. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I join Cara Hilton in thanking Elaine Smith for bringing forward this debate? I think that this issue is very worthy of our discussion today, and I just want to make a few comments in the time that I have. I wanted to start off, Presiding Officer, by mentioning what I happened to notice on Facebook earlier this week. A photograph split into two images. The first of a woman breastfeeding her child in a cafe under the disapproving glare of other customers. It's a company of a cat that says that a shawl is a handy tool for sparing embarrassment when breastfeeding. In the second image, the shawl is draped over the disapproving customers as a woman continues to feed her child. It probably works better as a visual gag rather than being described by me today, but I mentioned it. As I thought, it was a clever and amusing way of reminding us that if anyone is embarrassed by the sight of a mother feeding their child, it's their problem, not the problem of the woman undertaking one of the most perfectly natural activities in the world, or at least that's the way it should be. Having congratulated Elaine Smith for securing this debate, I think that it's also appropriate that we should congratulate Emily Slough, who is referred to in the motion for organising mass breastfeeding events to highlight problems that mothers face all too regularly. I think that we should reflect—in fact, she was thrust into the limelight rather unwittingly, because of the idiocy of someone passing by who was breastfeeding her child, someone who thought it appropriate to suraptish the photographer and post this image on the internet with the caption, Tramp, which I find appalling that anyone would think that that was in any way either an appropriate or an amusing thing to do. Those who responded to this with the defiance and the face of such stupidity and held mass breastfeeding events should be congratulated for their efforts. I think that it is important to remind ourselves of the benefits of breastfeeding. I thought that Elaine Smith did that rather comprehensively, but we should remind ourselves that breastfeed babies have better neurological development, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. There are also benefits to women who breastfeed at lower risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, hip fractures and reduced bone density. Of course, research continues and there are other benefits being researched as well. I thought that it was interesting that Cardiff Hilton is quite right to point out that there is still an issue in terms of women breastfeeding children in the long term, but we should reflect on the fact that UNICEF UK pointed out the NHS information centre feeding survey. It does indicate that there has been some improvement in the proportion of breastfeed babies at birth in the UK, rising by 5 per cent from 2005 to 2010, from 76 per cent to 81 per cent, which is obviously positive, although we should reflect the fact that, in Scotland, the figure was 74 per cent in 2010, so it shows that we can still do better in Scotland. Of course, the challenge is that so many mothers find it difficult to breastfeed in public largely due to the ignorance of others. A survey that was conducted by Camelison and Camelmy in 2011 reported that 38 per cent of breastfeeding mothers choose to breastfeed in public toilets without due to unwanted attention and glares that they may receive from the general public. It reported that 12 per cent have been asked to stop feeding their baby with the public, and 14 per cent have been reduced to a full-scale argument with someone who objected to them feeding their baby. I have to say good to them for standing up for themselves and shame on those who forced them into a position where they had to do so in the first place. It is important that we challenge any perception that women should have to breastfeed in private. I hope that that can be a message from Dana. I should also remind ourselves that, as has been mentioned by both Elaine Smith and Cara Hill, that the Parliament has legislated to protect the rights of mothers to feed their children with breastfeeding, etc. Scotland in 2005 is very clear that it is an offence deliberately to prevent or stop a person in charge of a child from feeding milk to that child in a public place on licence premises. That Parliament has acted and, of course, we need to see that in action on the ground and I hope that that will form an important part of the message from today's debate. I want once more to congratulate Elaine Smith for securing the debate today. I congratulate Elaine Smith not only on securing today's debate, but on the unswerving commitment that she has given to promoting breastfeeding and, in particular, breastfeeding in public in this Parliament over the last 15 years. I do not think that anybody has done more to promote breastfeeding than Elaine Smith since the beginning of this Parliament. That includes her member's bill in 2005, which protected mothers wishing to breastfeed in public. Indeed, she has had members' motions on that since. Promoting breastfeeding in public is more controversial than just promoting breastfeeding per se, and Elaine Smith has had the courage over the years to take that on that controversy. I think that today she made the very important point that the milk substitute is actually a by-product of the daily industry, it is not designed to suit young human beings, and actually biochemically it is nothing like human milk. Encouraging breastfeeding in public is important for similar reasons to discouraging smoking in public places. We want to discourage smoking in public places for health reasons, for public health reasons, but also because seeing people smoking normalises it, and if children continually see people smoking, it will seem to them to be normal behaviour and they will do it. Similarly, seeing mothers breastfeeding in public normalises breastfeeding, so even if children and young people have not seen a young member of their own family being breastfed, it will still be part of normal expected maternal behaviour. Statistics published last year indicate that over 47 per cent of babies were breastfed at 10 years, days in that fell to 36 per cent at six to eight weeks. 25 per cent of those were exclusively breastfed. That is unfortunately very similar to the breastfeeding rates of 10 years ago, so we do not seem to be hitting the target at 50 per cent at six weeks. That is despite the passage of Elaine Smith's bill, and I, like others, believe that no more needs to be done to promote the advantages of breastfeeding and to point out that the legislation needs to be used and publicised. I also think that we need to dispel some of the negative information that deters too many women from even considering breastfeeding. I think that one of those factors is the perception that breastfeeding is bound to be very difficult and very sore. It can be for some women and, as Elaine Smith said, a small proportion of women are unable to breastfeed at all and that should be understood, but most women can breastfeed and some women find breastfeeding very easy and very straightforward. Actually, I was one of them. I had three children, breastfed them all until they all decided that they wanted to give up, and I have an absolutely local recollection of finding it very difficult. Birth was another matter, I have to say. Having the opportunity to breastfeed on demand, however, was another matter. My children now 28, 26 and 24, and in those days breastfeeding in public places was pretty difficult, unless you were wearing a suitably encompassing and camouflaging garment. I also returned to work full-time when my eldest child was four months old. My son's childmind was very supportive and had breastfed all five of her children, but I had to express milk for my son in a toilet at work. I have never prepared anybody else's meal in a toilet, not even the dog's meal. The other thing that I want to draw attention to is the weight charts, which indicated that children should put on double their weight at a certain time and triple their weight at another time. Those do not work for a breastfeeding child. Their breastfed children do not put on weight as fast, and that ought to be understood so that the breastfeeding mothers do not feel that they are not giving enough nutrition to their children. However, there are a whole load of advantages, I believe. Most importantly, the child's health, as others have said, is that my youngest son was born during a norovirus epidemic, which was pretty worrying for newborns at that time, and all five of my family managed to get it. My sixth-year-old baby was the least ill of all of us because he was getting my antibodies. It protected him, unlike other children of that age. Night feeding, I think, was easy. There was no messing around with heating up bottles to the right temperature and all that nonsense. I could almost literally do it in my sleep, not that I would necessarily recommend it. Partners obviously cannot be much help with the feeding, but there are other night-time jobs like changing nappies and so on that they can assist with. There is the weight loss as well. I went back to my pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly after having given birth. I have to say that all my children were born during the Christmas and New Year period, and I was able to have all the Christmas goodies, the chocolate, the cheese, the Christmas cake, everything else, and still lose weight. Happy days, which I never had and never came back, unfortunately. Altogether, I would say that breastfeeding is great for babies and great for their mothers. More needs to be done to enable more mothers to breastfeed and to portray breastfeeding as a positive choice to enable people to positively choose the most natural way possible of nourishing their babies. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you to Elaine Smith for securing today's debate and for all her years of campaigning to encourage and support breastfeeding in Scotland, particularly in bringing forward the Breastfeeding Act. I am proud that there have been a number of other progressive advances in legislation and policy over the years to support increases in breastfeeding rates. Most women giving birth in Scotland today know about the multiple benefits that breastfeeding brings, and most women giving birth in Scotland today also intend to breastfeed their baby. However, this good news is tempered by the fact that overall breastfeeding rates are static, and NCT research shows that high rates of mothers stop breastfeeding or move to mixed feeding before they want to. So policy intended to educate expecting parents about the benefits of breastfeeding would seem to be working, but it is clearly just one part of the story. Without being situated within a culture that actively supports, understands and enables breastfeeding, this policy remains stunted in its potential to transform breastfeeding initiation rates and how long mothers breastfeed for. Further progress in employment practice, childcare arrangements and effective support networks will help to bring about this change, but we also need to face up to persisting attitudes towards women's bodies and women's choices. I would like to stand here and say that it is incredible that a woman like Emily Sloughy can be labored a tramp for breastfeeding her child in a public place, but we live in a society that plasters boobs everywhere in a sexual context, where women's bodies are reduced to an image that society at large can appropriate for comment and criticism and where mothers feel exposed and judged on a daily basis. While we are getting better at telling mothers about the benefits of breastfeeding and providing support for breastfeeding, we are also falling short at speaking to people more widely. This debate today is an important part of the discussion about how we tackle negative attitudes about not just breastfeeding but women more generally. Elaine Smith's suggestion of promoting the legislation across the country is entirely sensible, for it is not just new mothers who need to know that they live in a country that in theory supports breastfeeding, the country that they live in must support it in practice. It demands a multi-faceted approach. The more people see breastfeeding in public, the more normal it will become, and the more normal it becomes, the more people will feel they can breastfeed in public. While we work on changing attitudes in general sense, we can work within the space we have to get more women breastfeeding, and that's precisely what's happening in Fife. We know that women least likely to breastfeed are younger women and women living in low-income areas. NHS Fife's breastfeeding peer support project has driven up breastfeeding in deprived areas, and all Fife's community health partnerships have just been awarded the UNICEF Stage 3 award. The team in Fife also recognised that, whilst unfair, many women do feel embarrassed and unsure about breastfeeding in public. It provides a guide for new parents listing public places in Fife that actively support breastfeeding. The more mums do it, the more it will seem like this to thing to do, and that will change culture over time. Fife knows that the only approach that works is one that puts the mother at the centre, which is why it's crucial that initiatives like this continue to receive direct funding from the Government. Women who breastfeed in public should not have to cover it up or apologise for it. Women who breastfeed should not be seen as tramps or pushy middle-class mums. They should be seen as people feeding another little person. It really is that simple. I think that most people in Scotland recognise that it's in everyone's interests that infants receive the nutrition that will give them the very best start in life. It's our collective responsibility to address the attitudes towards breastfeeding, not just in expecting couples, but in society at large. Thanks very much. Due to the large number of members still wishing to speak in the debate, I'm minded to accept a motion under rule 8.14.3 that the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes. Would you like to move? Thank you very much. I put the question, are we agreed that we'll extend the debate? We are agreed, and I now call on Mary Scanlon to be forwarded by Dr Richard Simpson. I would also like to thank Elaine Smith for securing this debate and outlining so many of the benefits of breastfeeding. As others have said, Elaine has been a long-term ambassador for breastfeeding. In fact, I remember nagging my daughter to breastfeed her first child who was born in 2001. I proudly reported back to Elaine when the Parliament was up the road that my daughter did breastfeed for several months as a result. Listening to Kara Hilton reminded me of when my children were born in Dundee royal infirmary around 40 years ago. Indeed, I was the only mum on the Florence Nightingale type wards of nearly 30 women who was breastfeeding. It's interesting to see how little has changed. Like others, I condemn the action taken against Emily Slaw in Staffordshire, with a photograph taken without her permission, being placed on a social networking site and with all the disrespectful comments. However, I'm not sure if the incident would, in fact, have been in breach of the Breastfeeding Scotland Act 2005. I say that I'm not sure that perhaps the minister will make that clear. However, as the motion states, the Breastfeeding Act makes it illegal to stop or attempt to stop mothers' breastfeeding in public. It would certainly have been in breach of the tone and intention of the act and the regulations, which state that it's about reassuring mothers and to help breastfeeding in public become a social norm. Elaine Smith mentioned the Breastfeeding Act. However, I think like so often in this Parliament, it's not about the legislation. The legislation is fine. It's how that legislation is enforced and implemented that really does matter. The benefits to both babies and mothers are well stated. I've been well stated by all speakers on this topic from protecting babies, from common childhood diseases, and, as Elaine Murray said, helping mothers to return to their pre-pregnancy weight. However, one of the most important benefits has to be the convenience of no bottles and no sterilisation, as well of course as the constant supply. However, I recognise and I'm a very strong advocate of breastfeeding, but I've also been aware of many mothers who want to breastfeed and find it difficult, so I think that we need to recognise that too. I found it very interesting to— Elaine Smith. Thank you, Mary Scanlon, for taking the intervention. Just on that point, would you then recognise with me that support from professionals is absolutely vital? Mary Scanlon? Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. I think quite often it's about freeing up the bed in hospital. I don't expect people to stay in for four days, as Cara Hilton said, but they could be given that help and support at home, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. It is interesting to note also that older mothers are more likely to breastfeed than young mothers. In 2012-13 in Scotland, for mothers under 20, I was surprised that only 5 per cent breastfed their babies at 68 weeks compared to 34 per cent of mothers aged 40 and over. However, as others said, the main statistic here is that 41 per cent of mothers in the least deprived areas were exclusively breastfeeding at 68 weeks, three times greater than mothers in the most deprived areas. When you consider the cost of infant formula, that is undoubtedly an area where I think Elaine Smith said that more support, more awareness and more help could be given. Scotland still compares favourably with Wales and Northern Ireland in terms of breastfeeding. We are only 2 per cent behind England in terms of exclusive breastfeeding at six weeks, but I think that we can do better. However, like others, I commend Elaine Smith on bringing this debate to the Parliament and for helping us all to raise awareness of breastfeeding. There is no doubting the health benefits to baby and mother, but as Elaine Smith said, it should not be lost the savings to the public purse and the savings to families, which I have mentioned particularly from the most deprived backgrounds. More can be done to encourage and support more women to breastfeed, and to make breastfeeding in public the social norm, as Jane Baxter said. I hope that this debate will go some way to helping to achieve that. I call on Dr Richard Simpson to be followed by Duncan McNeill. Can I join others by congratulating Elaine Smith on obtaining this member's debate? As others have already said, Elaine has made this a core issue for her over the entire length of the Parliament, including her member's bill, which has changed some of the public perception, but more needs to be done. The publication in 2011 of improving maternal and infant nutrition, a framework for action, was a useful document. I think that that should now be seen in the context of the early years' collaborative as it develops and the family nurse partnership among other initiatives. It is an option of the World Health Organization's view that breastfeeding should be exclusive in the first six months and was also welcome. There is recognition in the report that breastfeeding is not only crucial for the development of the incident but for the good health in the future of the mother, including, as others have already mentioned, a return to pre-pregnancy weight, which is something of increasing importance as obesity becomes ever more prevalent within Scotland. The infants who get the immunological benefit of breast milk, which cannot be supplied by formula milk, have reduced risks of ear, respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections, and allergic diseases, including eczema, asthma and wheezing, type 1 diabetes. They are also much less likely to be overweight, again contributing to the major public health issue of obesity. Furthermore, infants who are breastfed are less at risk of childhood leukemia and sudden unexplained infant death, and there may also be an association with improved cognitive development. Preterm babies that are breastfed are likely to have better eyesight and brain development than those who are not and have a reduced risk of necrotising enterocolitis. The fact is associated with influencing breastfeeding are many invaded, but particularly for preterm babies where there is considerable difficulty and they may have to be, as Carter Hilton said, tube fed has happened to one of my grandsons, that the help that those mothers need is particularly important. The quality of assistance during delivery and in the first few days is important, and yet we have a situation where, from the time that I was a student when there were 14 days lying in, as it was called, many mothers now go home within a few hours of delivery. Have we really adjusted the services to accommodate this? I believe that that is a factor in the poor breastfeeding rates that we still have. Once mothers do get out, then the support of both professional and peer-to-peer is important. Can I ask the minister whether there is now a comprehensive mapping of the accessibility of breastfeeding and peer support groups? The Government takes some responsibility for our problems in that they cut the midwifery student intake by 40 per cent some three years ago. Frankly, that was a foolish decision that was wrong for Scotland and certainly wrong for the UK where there were serious shortages of midwives and still are. Worse still, it resulted in the precipitate closure of three university schools of midwifery. The subsequent partial reversal with increases came too late to reopen those schools. At the same time, we have really serious problems about health visitors, recruitment and training. That is still being left to health boards. I think that that is again not the correct decision. I think that the Government needs to take a far stronger hold of the training of health visitors who can be critically important to the sustaining of breastfeeding, not just the establishment of it. There is a programme of research going on that Dundee is involved in. They have had very good work on incentives in relation to smoking. They are now doing a project in association with an English unit on the potential of financial vouchers and centres in breastfeeding. It will be interesting to see how that emerges and whether that research should be adopted or not. I want to finish on one or two points quickly. One important issue that has not been mentioned by other speakers is that Scotland has only one breast milk bank. There are 17 in the United Kingdom, and I wonder whether there are plans to extend that with a second, because of our geography. I think that running one only in Scotland is not particularly good as a measure. Can I also ask the minister if not in her speech because she will not have time to give us an update at some point in the implementation plan? In that regard, I echo Elaine Smith's regrets that the post of a breastfeeding champion or lead was abolished and that there has never been a debate led by any Government on breastfeeding. That is far too short a time, even with the extension that has been granted by order. That has been far too short a time to debate what is actually a very, very important subject, and I would therefore ask the minister to try and get Government time to debate this in a much fuller way, but already I think that we have had a very good debate on this subject. I thank Elaine Smith for bringing forward this debate today. I first became aware of her passion for this issue when I was on the health committee almost a decade ago through the passage of her breastfeeding bill. It was interesting to note that that committee—there were six females on that committee to three males—there was a female convener, a female deputy convener, and I think that the minister was on that committee in the passage of that bill as well. It was all very interesting for us males on that to get all the various anecdotes and stories about this issue, but I think that the committee shared completely the ambition of the bill to confirm the rights of the child, to recognise clearly the health benefits that are being described today to the mother and the child, and indeed to wider society. It was, of course, a real opportunity to tackle the culture and attitudes through public debate that that opportunity brought in and around breastfeeding. It generated a lot of discussion at that time in wider society, but my desire to speak in this debate today was not just to trip down memory lane to recall those issues. Elaine Smith will be pleased to hear that one of the reasons that I am speaking here this morning are today, in this member's debate. This debate that she has sponsored today has initiated yet again the debate and interests in my community. On Monday afternoon, I was contacted with an inquiry about the debate, what it was about, what it would be covering, whether it would come along. I decided to meet those people on Tuesday in Port Glasgow health centre, and I am here today as a reporter of that very interesting debate. It was a rolling debate that took place in a canteen space in Port Glasgow health centre. They were all women there, apart from me, and they contributed in between mouthfuls of their simas and their cup of tea. There were professional women there. There were lay people there who all gave a view about breastfeeding and, indeed, the challenges. Elaine Smith will be pleased that that debate was triggered by this debate today, and that people are genuinely interested in how we can challenge this and make a reality of the ambition of her bill and, indeed, the Government policy. Elaine Smith might be saddened to know, and I am sure that she is aware, that the gap between the very affluent areas of the wider local authority area and the poorest is something like 80 per cent breastfeeding and affluent areas against the low of 2 per cent in some of our less affluent areas. That is a challenge. As I said, this was a very fluid debate. People were coming in and they were encouraged to give their views. Some of those will be as quick as I can, but I want to do justice to get on the record today. The issues that were raised and I recorded where the change in reality, the expectation of young mothers and the pressures that are on them in this modern day, the choices that they have have got to be balanced with those pressures. The lives that they lead are very different from their grandmothers, but it does put pressures on them. Despite motherhoods, they are not and do not see themselves being confined with that motherhood. They are anxious to get back to work and go back to work for financial reasons. Indeed, they want to have their social life back again as well, which they do not see as being maybe compatible. Those are not my views, I should caution, but I am reporting here about the very lively debate that took place between lay people and indeed the professionals. I have covered the social issues, and it has been mentioned here. There are fewer midwives and there is less support now than there was perceived, and I know that there are specific schemes for specific groups. Breastfeeding competes with child protection now in the job remit of some of the people who would have previously delivered that. The smoking cessation and addiction services have a very difficult landscape out there, and the debate is necessary. I believe that breastfeeding needs to get some sort of parity about those issues, and I say that from a health committee point of view, in terms of focus on early years and how we change and transform lives in Scotland. Neil Findlay, after which we will move to the cabinet secretary for the closing speech. I thank my friend and colleague, Elaine Smith, for bringing this motion before Parliament and indeed for her unwavering commitment to the promotion of breastfeeding, a very important public health matter. I think that this is an excellent example of a campaigning MSP sticking with an issue and seeing it through in order to change the law and change people's lives. Breastfeeding, of course, is the most natural thing in the world. It helps mother and baby keep healthy, develops attachment, reduces the risk of illness, and as Dr Simpson listed, a whole range of things, cancer, diabetes, obesity—the list goes on and on for the benefits to both the mother and child. I know that we are in a bit of anecdotal mood today, so I may come as no surprise to my sisters in the chamber that I have personally not breastfed my daughter, but given the weight loss advantages that Elaine Murray explained, I really wish I had, because I maybe wouldn't have struggled to keep my weight down over the years. Of course, breast milk is readily available. No need to go to the shops, always at the right temperature. No need to mix or faff around with packets. It comes on its own. No need for bottles or sterilising equipment or kettles or all that stuff that I remember from around 18 years ago myself. Of course, very importantly, it is free and mothers who breastfeed save significant amounts of money because they do not have to pay for formula milk and all the palaver that goes with it. With all those qualities, I think that it is surprising that it is not the most expensive product on the planet—a superfood that is absolutely free—yet we know that, as people have mentioned, the take-up rates are still very low across the UK. As we see, initial rates are highest in England, Scotland at 71 per cent, and then it goes right down for after six weeks right down to figures of 22 per cent in Scotland and, remarkably, only 13 per cent in Northern Ireland. Although we are not the worst in the UK, we have a long way to go to drive up rates. Duncan MacNeill's contribution was very powerful because I think that take-up rates of breastfeeding reflect very accurately the health inequalities across Scotland, and that is something that we have to address across the whole range of portfolios in this Parliament. Why are those take-up rates so low? Without doubt, there are educational and cultural issues, lack of knowledge, fear, embarrassment, stigma, social awkwardness, women who are afraid to breastfeed in public because of the reaction of others. People have mentioned stories about people being asked to leave restaurants or bars or shopping centres by owners who appear to be living in a wholly different age. Today, of all days, I think that we should reflect on the further misuse of social media when we look at the case that has been mentioned by Emily Slough. I think that it is remarkable that we had someone who had their photo taken when they had no knowledge of it and then put online their character, attacked by people who neither knew her or cared for her and had no thought whatsoever of the impact that that would have on her or her family. I find it thoroughly depressing that the wonder of technology is being used in such a depressing way, but it is inspirational at the same time that she did not give in to those people and inspired her to act. I think that that is the way to deal with those who disparage people and who try and assassinate their character from their lonely bed-sit behind their computer terminal. Elaine Smith's bill protects the rights of mothers and makes it illegal. I think that we should not forget that. It is illegal to stop her attempt to stop mothers' breastfeeding in public and it attempts to make breastfeeding their social norm. That is what it should be, something that is totally natural. I hope that the Government will continue to work to promote the multitude of good reasons for breastfeeding and work with her councils, colleges, universities and, of course, workplaces and in our communities to break down those barriers that prevent more women from breastfeeding. I would encourage Elaine Smith to keep up her very effective campaigning on this issue and she will receive support, I'm sure, from across this Parliament. Finally, two weeks ago, a conference was supposed to be held on Scotland's health challenges at Dynamic Earth. That conference was cancelled because speaker after speaker with Drew, because it emerged that the event was being sponsored by Nestle, one of the large corporations that Elaine Smith spoke about and whose activity in the developing world undermines breastfeeding amongst the populations of those countries. That is still very much a live geopolitical issue and it hasn't won any. I think that we've had a very interesting debate here today, and I'd like others to thank Elaine Smith for bringing this important debate to Parliament. I'm glad that we waited to welcome the mums to the gallery and, of course, the staff who are there as well. We know about the various media articles on the public shaming that were meted out to mother's attitudes to breastfeed their babies in public. One that has been highlighted a lot today has been the case of Emily Slough and, of course, her fight-back campaign, which I think is very inspiring to others. However, it shows that there is still a fair way to go to bring about a shift in public attitudes to make a breastfeeding the norm. The breastfeeding, etc., Scotland Act 2005, protects the right of any person to feed a child when required and in the most appropriate place for them without the fear of interruption or criticism. A few members, Kara Hilton, Elaine Smith and Elaine Murray, have asked about the promotion of that legislation and, indeed, about the leaflet. I am able to inform members that the leaflet is currently being updated to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the breastfeeding act in 2015, which will provide an opportunity to re-promote the benefits of the legislation but also the fact that the rights of people within that legislation will keep people informed about that in due course. Richard Simpson raised a number of questions—probably best for me to write or arrange for Michael Matheson possibly to write to him with the answers to the questions that he has raised. The latest infant feeding survey 2010, which people have referred to, reports more positively about the experiences of women in Scotland compared to other areas of the UK, but it does, however, highlight the challenges that breastfeeding in public brings. Good nutrition, as has been said by many, from the earliest days of life will contribute significantly to the long-term health of Scotland's population. In 2011, we published Improving Maternal and Infant Nutrition, a framework for action. The framework outlines the measures that should be taken by all organisations working with families to ensure that every parent is supported to give their baby the very best nutritional start in life. We all know about the short and long-term health benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and infants, so why have breastfeeding rates remained steady at around 36.5 per cent of babies being breastfed at 68-week review in 2013? The answer is that there are so many factors that influence a mother's infant feeding decision, whether it is family and peer pressure, culture, public attitudes and the support from professionals are just a few among many. Effective strategies to encourage and enable more women to initiate and maintain breastfeeding cannot be delivered only by health professionals' policy development or by legislation, but instead by taking a supportive and collaborative approach. We want to make sure that parents understand that breastmilk will contribute to a baby's future health for however long mothers choose to breastfeed and feel supported and encouraged from the earliest days. There are also very important messages about the benefit to the mums themselves, which we have heard and spoken about today. Research is clear that the greatest benefits for mother and baby are gained through exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. As has been said, it is a natural way to feed babies and infants that provides the most comprehensive source of nutrition for the first six months of a baby's life and contains a range of immunological substances that cannot be manufactured in formula milk. We also want to strengthen the NHS contribution by improving access to NHS care during the antenatal period for those women who are least likely to consider breastfeeding and most in need of encouragement and support. Good relationships built up with health professionals in the antenatal period will help to support mothers to start breastfeeding and maintain it in the earliest weeks of their baby's lives. To help to achieve that, the Scottish Government provides funding of around £2.5 million per year to health boards to implement the framework's action plan, including a range of breastfeeding support activities and interventions. We also recognise the contribution that the UNICEF baby-friendly initiative makes to improving the care of mothers and babies. Every single NHS board in Scotland is working towards achieving and maintaining the baby-friendly initiative status in both hospital and community settings. Demonstrating our commitment to UNICEF baby-friendly, the Scottish Government has funded a full-time professional officer for Scotland for four years and is providing financial support to help all NHS boards to achieve that prestigious award. Progress is being made nationally, with 84 per cent of births in Scotland taking place in a BFI-accredited hospital, which compares very well to elsewhere. As well as supporting women in making the important decision on how to feed their babies, support and advice needs to be readily available postnatally. Peer support is a key way of providing encouragement to families and their communities. It enables women to share similar experiences, to newly breastfeeding mums, to offer both emotional and practical support, to complement that, which is offered by professionals and, of course, can be mutually beneficial to the peer supporter and the supported mother. The provision of breastfeeding peer support needs to be fully integrated within local service planning and delivery regarding the recruitment, retraining and on-going supervision of the peer supporter. To support that, NHS Scotland's breastfeeding peer support guidance was published in November last year. Findings from the growing up in Scotland along the Tudynal study in April this year found that there has been an increased understanding about the importance of breastfeeding and its long-term benefits. Breastfeeding rates in the most deprived areas of Scotland have increased over the last decade, and that is a good thing. With the overall breastfeeding rates at the first visit, it increased from 24.3 per cent in 2012 to 30.7 per cent in 2012-13. I thank the cabinet secretary for taking intervention, but I wonder if she might consider committing to meeting with the authors of preventing disease and saving resources because of the amount of money that the NHS could save as proven by their research. I will take that suggestion forward. It may be more appropriate for Michael Matheson to do that, but I will certainly take that forward with him. The increase in the overall breastfeeding rates in the most deprived areas is mainly due to an increase in the percentage of mums who are mixed feeding their child, indicating that more mothers in these areas are initiating breastfeeding and continue to give their babies some breast milk in the early weeks of life. We have to handle that carefully, because we want mums to give their baby some breast milk, while promoting the clear message that exclusive breastfeeding is best, but any breastfeeding is better than none. Those are careful and difficult messages that professionals have to wrestle with. In conclusion, we all agree that Scotland should celebrate and support women making the choice to breastfeed regardless of where or how long they choose to do so, and that they will all have a part to play in making this happen. I will certainly take forward many of the issues and suggestions made during this debate, and I will discuss them with Michael Matheson on how best to take them forward. Thank you all for taking part. I now suspend this meeting of Parliament until 2.30.