Breastfeeding

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 25 April 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:32, 25 April 2018

Thank you for the follow-up question. I welcome the steps made by Newport to make it expressly clear—no pun intended—that breastfeeding is welcome across the city. There's a model for other people to follow, because it is about encouraging mothers to breastfeed when they're out of the home, and actually encouraging all of us to be supportive in that environment as well. I did set up a task and finish group to look at improving breastfeeding rates in Wales last year, following a meeting with the Royal College of Midwives. Our breastfeeding rates have improved over the last 10 years—up to 61 per cent at birth—but we know that (a) we want that rate to be higher, but also for breastfeeding to continue. I am expecting the task and finish group to report to me within a month with those recommendations, and I expect to update Members not only on receipt of the report but the Government response to that report and its recommendations.