Nursery World - Family nurses raise rates of breastfeeding

A Government scheme that gives young mothers intensive support from specially trained nurses has boosted breastfeeding rates, according to new research.

The second-year report of a four-year evaluation scheme of the FamilyNurse Partnership (News, 17 July 2008), run by the Department forChildren, Schools and Families and the Department of Health, found it isimproving outcomes for vulnerable young families.

The report from Birkbeck College, University of London, found theprogramme produced a 20 per cent reduction in smoking during pregnancyand a breastfeeding initiation rate 10 per cent higher than the nationalaverage.

Ninety-six per cent of participants said it had helped them feel moreconfident as a mother and two-thirds said the programme had helped themto think about the need for gaining more educational qualifications or ajob.

The programme, based on a nurse home-visiting scheme in the UnitedStates, is being piloted in 40 sites across England, increasing to 50 byJanuary, with the aim of going nationwide.

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