Unbelievable

[hawksley]

New mothers to be given 250 pounds in food vouchers if they promise to breast feed their new born babies. How are they going to prove it?and will we have a band of civil servants calling on the mothers to prove they are breast feeding,called T-t inspectors Its unbelievable ,what will this lot come up with next.?

[Old_Geezer]

I also have reservations regarding paying parents to do what they should be doing anyway. (Not wishing to start an argument over the activity.) However if it is good for the child I can see why society would want to promote it.

Maybe I can get the government to pay me for mowing my lawn ? Oh no, sorry, I'm one of the citizens they have marked out for abuse and swindling taxes not handouts; silly me for even contemplating it.

[seadogg]

Someone has to pay for these handouts OG so we have no reason to beef if we have been stupid enough to pay our way through life.

[seadogg]

In the days of food rationing, controlled by stamps issued by the government, it was quite common for some parents with large families to sell off stamps to neighbours. Somebody will find a way of turning these vouchers into currency.

[Booldawg]

not everyone is able to breastfeed due to various reasons, baby doesnt take to it, too painful for the mother etc etc. As it sounds like the vouchers will be paid up front how would this work?

[jno]

paid up front, lol.

You probably have to go to an inspector's office and perform and he'll hand you your ticket.

[woofgang]

Its a research project....no sillier than many others.
http://www.expressandstar.com/business/uk-money/2013/11/12/new-mums-paid-to-breastfeed-baby/

[jno]

sounds like an attempt to change public attitudes more than anything else: if mums come to see breastfeeding as something that society thinks is worth paying for, they'll at at least take a more positive attitude towards it. Given the modest amounts of money involved, it's worth a try.

[youngmafbog]

clearly the public purse has some excess cash in it, perhaps a rise in pensions and tax cuts for the workers will follow?

[jno]

savings in healthcare for babies might follow.

[woofgang]

universities fund many sillier bits of research believe me.

[ToraToraTora]

You'd be loving it if it was an EU diktat!

[Mamyalynne]

AS Booldawg says , there are sometimes physical reasons for not Breastfeeding.

That aside, I see this research project as an improvement on many others such as 'why does milk make cornflakes go soggy?'

It may show whether the problems surrounding breastfeeding as not to be done (recent news stories etc) in everyday life or whether the tide has turned and Mums see simplicity (which I think breastfeeding is, they may not) is the best route.

I await the results with interest.

[sandyRoe]

Could posh mums use the vouchers to help pay a wetnurse? If such an occupation still exists.

[aelmpvw]

any expectant mums having twins will make a financial killing

[Mamyalynne]

£400, will set you up for life, yes.


Seriously Breastfeeding already is a financial saving, no bottles,teats,sterilisers and formula to buy.

[mushroom25]

so why does milk make cornflakes go soggy?

[Mamyalynne]

You would have to ask the university that did the research - it sure beats me.

[jake-the-peg]

The root if this is due to the big disparities in breastfeeding iin areas

Whereas in some places it's high in others it's less than 40% after the 6 weeks of paid maternity leave

This is down to a number of reasons but the big one is financial where mothers have to go back to work.

The voucher idea is a bit of a cop out really - it stops short of recommending longer paid maternity leave which is the real source of the 'issue', and i can't see a couple of hundred quids worth of vouchers persuading many mums that need to go back to work to stay off much longer

[Mamyalynne]

//It took three scientists a total of pounds 100,000 of taxpayers' money to work out why milk makes cornflakes go soggy. The answer? "Ingress of water lets the polymers move around". The study was defended by the Ministry of Agriculture. "The sogginess of cereals is an important commercial issue," it claimed.
//

[Zacs-Master]

It is (as I believe someone else has pointed out) a TRIAL scheme in 2 restricted area and the amount is £120, for 6 months.