Welcome to the new MIDIRS website!

Women reluctant to breastfeed in public due to attitudes of general public

2 August, 2022

2 minutes read

A study by researchers at Swansea University and Cardiff University show women are reluctant to breastfeed outside of their home because of the attitudes of the general public.

17,700 women were examined in the study, with many saying that the attitudes of strangers is having a direct impact on their ability to breastfeed in public.

The study also shared the experiences of 156 male partners, 46 grandparents and 438 members of the public.

Researcher at Swansea University’s Centre for Lactation, Infant feeding and Translational Research, who led the study, Dr Aimee Grant, said: “The attention of members of the public who observed breastfeeding was incorrectly focused on mothers sexualised women, rather than caregivers to infants who needed feeding.

“This created a hostile environment in which it was harder for mothers to feed their babies, which was stressful and unpleasant.”

According to the findings, in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, there was limited evidence that women breastfed outside of their homes, and those who did found the experience uncomfortable.

Law protections for breastfeeding in public, where present, were not widely known and rarely enforced and women who were young, poor and/or from marginalised ethnicities felt increased stigma of breastfeeding in public.

The study of the survey also found that observers of breastfeeding in public has poor understanding of infant feeding and the need to breastfeed in public spaces.

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is legal in England and Wales to breastfeed in public.

“We urgently need the public to reframe their view of breastfeeding, so that it is understood as nutrition for babies, rather than a political or sexualised act by their parents. This means that the public should not stare, tut or make negative comments about breastfeeding babies,” Dr Aimee Grant added.

The study ‘Views and experience of breastfeeding in public: A qualitative systematic review’ is open access and be found here.

MIDIRS Monthly – Reflections on my journey from a registered midwife to a PhD midwifery researcher

By Lucy Goddard

2 August, 2024

3 minutes read

MIDIRS Opinion – How Hypnobirthing and a positive birth experience has inspired my fight against the media’s misrepresentations of childbirth

By Gillian Kirkwood

19 July, 2024

14 minutes read

Cookie options

Some of these cookies are necessary to make the site work. We’d also like to use optional cookies to help improve your experience on the site. You can manage your optional cookie preferences below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences. Your preferences can be changed at any time.
For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.

Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used to collect and report information on how our website is used. This helps us to improve the website based on the needs and behaviour of our visitors.

Marketing Cookies

We use marketing cookies to help us improve the relevancy of advertising campaigns you receive.

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer

Royal College of Midwives uses cookies for website functionality purposes. For more information, please review our privacy notice or review the settings tab.