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Our research, which identified effective and cost-effective interventions to help women, particularly those in low income groups, make informed choices and establish and maintain breastfeeding for newborn infants, has changed health policy and practice nationally and internationally. The findings have been included in national and international practice recommendations including National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. Active dissemination of our research outputs and adoption of their recommendations have been associated with stepwise increases in breastfeeding rates in the UK, particularly for socially disadvantaged women who typically have low breastfeeding rates, and is likely to be associated with improved health of infants.
University of Aberdeen research has directly influenced worldwide guidance for breastfeeding. A programme of research led by University researchers set out to develop, design and evaluate interventions to improve breastfeeding rates. Findings from the research directly led to a change to UNICEF guidance on how to promote breastfeeding care. Hospitals can apply to be UNICEF "Baby Friendly" accredited if they can demonstrate implementation of the UNICEF guidance. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has also indicated that all UK hospitals must follow the UNICEF guidance. The research has also directly impacted on the work of the Baby Café Charitable Trust -a charity which runs accredited drop-in centres to promote breastfeeding across in the UK and internationally - with the findings from the Aberdeen research programme directly influencing the Baby Café "toolkit": the "rule-book" by which all Baby Café drop-in centres worldwide are run.
The claimed impact, as defined by REF guidance, is therefore on policy and services; practitioners and professional services; society and economically.
The societal, economic and health benefits of breastfeeding include reduced infections in infants, cancers in mothers, cardiovascular disorders in both, and costs to the NHS (UNICEF UK 2012). Breastfeeding initiation rates in England improved from 66.2% in 2005/6 to 73.7% in 2010/11. Swansea work improved services, health and welfare because we:
We recommended that doses of analgesia be minimised and mothers receiving multiple medicines in labour targeted for additional breastfeeding support (R1-3). These recommendations reached most midwives and students in the English-speaking world through NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), Intrapartum Care Guideline 2007 (C1 p.123) and our textbooks (R4, 5). NICE guidelines form the basis of hospital policies and procedures in the UK and beyond. Doses were lowered (details below) and breastfeeding rates improved.
Essex research, conducted between 2009 and 2012, has used cohort studies to investigate the sources of intergenerational social mobility in the UK. The results show that two variables have highly significant effects on children's social mobility patterns: the educational level of parents and the prevalence of maternal breastfeeding. The cohort analysis conducted by Professor John Ermisch and Dr Emilia Del Bono shows that there are strong intergenerational correlations in educational attainment across different cohorts of UK individuals. The findings have informed UK Government policy and influenced the work of a major US charitable foundation. Analysis conducted by a team of researchers led by Del Bono has demonstrated the cognitive and socio-emotional benefits of maternal breastfeeding, and shown that its uptake can be used to foster social mobility. These findings have been vital to UNICEF UK's Baby Friendly Initiative and have provided evidence to demonstrate its efficacy and to justify its continuation.