GREAT KNITS! Woolly Boobs Teach the World How to Breastfeed

By ADRIAN BUTLER

IT was a simple idea by Liverpool Women’s Hospital to help new mothers.

But the ECHO revelation that nurses knitted false breasts to teach breastfeeding started a worldwide phenomenon.

Now, as dozens of woolly boobs start arriving, mothers are already beginning to benefit.

And the hospital’s groundbreaking method of using the false breasts to coach women is being recommended as best practice in New Zealand and South Africa.

Midwives use them to show new mums how to position babies when breastfeeding and how to express milk.

Kate McFadden, the Women’s Hospital’s infant feeding co- ordinator, said they are making a difference and "really improving the quality of care here."

So far, around 50 breasts have arrived from lightning-quick knitters. Buying professionally-made equivalents would have cost the hospital around pounds 1,750.

Ms McFadden said using the breasts was being recommended around the world.

"In South Africa they are considering adopting it in all maternity hospitals. Women over there have more support than in England as they come from larger families, but they still need to be shown how to do it."

Back in Liverpool, babies who were premature or had health problems are benefiting from having mothers who know how to express milk.

Ms McFadden said: "I was with one mother who has a jaundiced baby and she managed to express milk for the first time. The baby is often sleepy, but it needs lots of milk to keep it healthy.

"Instead of taking mothers into private rooms to teach them, we can now show them how to breastfeed next to their babies.

"The Surestart family centre in Speke has four generations in one family who have taken up knitting – lots of the new mums there are trying it. An awful lot more babies are getting the milk they need."

ECHO Essentials

Breast milk has been proved to be the best nutrition for babies.

The body puts essential nutrients from the body and bloodstream into the milk.

Studies have shown breastfed babies are less likely to be victims of sudden infant death syndrome, meningitis, diabetes and many other conditions.

Mothers who breastfeed also enjoy an increased bond with their babies and return to their previous weight faster. They are also less likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer.

The Lactation Consultants of Great Britain have put the knitting pattern on their website. To download instructions on knitting the false breasts, visit www.lcgb.org

adrianbutler@liverpool.com

(c) 2007 Liverpool Echo. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.