Baby Foods: Nutrition and Marketing

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, the British Dietetic Association estimates that 34% of women in UK breastfeed. We all know that breastfeeding is best for babies, but compared with Europe, the UK figure is one of the lowest. In Germany, 50% of women do some breastfeeding at six months; in the US, the figure is around 49%. New mothers are discharged from hospital the next day, even if they have had a caesarean section. What are the Government doing to support new mothers to breastfeed their babies? What are they doing to promote breastfeeding, particularly as formula companies have huge marketing budgets?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

In my former life, I never dreamed that I would spend so much time talking about breastfeeding in the House of Lords. The noble Baroness raises such an important point, and this is why we are investing in Start for Life. The Start for Life services include £18.5 million to improve infant feeding services and to provide practical support with breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is tough; it is not easy. In days gone by there was enormous support in hospitals for women who had their babies there; that does not exist any more. We want to make sure that it is delivered through the communities, to come up with a network of champions to help women, and to improve the statistics the noble Baroness so ably outlined.