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THE HSE HAS dropped a target to increase breastfeeding rates by 2 percentage points per year.
The health service has consistently missed most of its breastfeeding targets over a period of several years. The number of women breastfeeding is increasing, but has not increased fast enough to hit the HSE’s goals.
The 2016-2021 breastfeeding strategy, Breastfeeding in a Healthy Ireland, had as its “overall target” an “annual 2% increase in breastfeeding duration rates between 2016 and 2021 (exclusive and not exclusive)”.
The strategy was extended by two years, but three of the four breastfeeding targets set out in the HSE’s Performance Assurance Reports for 2022 and for the first six months of 2023 did not continue to increase in line with the strategy’s goal.
The strategy has now expired and it has not yet been replaced.
Even though three of the four breastfeeding targets were not tightened last year or the year before, they continued to be missed, according to the most recent data.
As of June 2023, just under 62% of babies were breastfed (exclusively and non-exclusively) at the time of the first public health nurse visit a few days after birth, short of the target of 64% in place since 2021.
By three months, this has fallen to 43%, falling short of a target of 46% also in place since 2021.
The only 2021 target which has since been raised in line with the strategy was the target for exclusive breastfeeding at three months. As of June 2023, almost 32% of babies were exclusively breastfed at three months.
Liz O’Sullivan, a lecturer at TU Dublin specialising in maternal and infant nutrition, said having a national breastfeeding strategy mattered because it ensured accountability.
“We need a policy, an action plan, something in date and someone responsible for it so someone is answerable,” O’Sullivan said.
Ireland has one of the world’s lowest rates of breastfeeding; 83% of babies in the US and 94% in Sweden are breastfed at birth.
Breastfeeding lowers babies’ risk of developing infection, and of developing obesity in later life, and lowers mothers’ risk of breast cancer. A small proportion of women cannot breastfeed or cannot breastfeed exclusively, while others choose not to do so.
Research published by TU Dublin and campaign group Bainne Beatha in 2022 pointed to a lack of expert help in the first week of babies’ life as a key barrier to breastfeeding, with formula often offered as a solution to breastfeeding problems rather than breastfeeding support.
The HSE said it was reviewing progress against the breastfeeding strategy and would continue to work on any outstanding actions needed under it.
“The number of babies breastfed is increasing in Ireland with the latest full-year data highlighting a 7.7 [percentage point] increase in the number of babies breastfed at the first PHN visit in the past seven years,” the HSE said.
It added that there had been a 7.4 point increase in babies breastfed at three months over the same period.
It said the number of specialist infant feeding and lactation consultant positions in the health service has doubled to 59 since 2021. These specialists provide support within the maternity services, primary care and children’s hospitals and support the training of other staff, the HSE said.
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It says more about America’s healthcare and insurances industries than it does about the people involved.
exactly! I’d do the same and pretend to “sue” my nephew and get the insurance company to pay my overly expensive medical bills if his parents were ok with it.
I don’t think this has anything to do with insurance. Sounds like she has a good job in human resources and can afford to live on the upper east side of Manhattan, so it would be highly unusual for someone in her situation not to have good health insurance. This just sounds like she’s being a greedy bitch and wanted more money to cover the “emotional distress” she experienced and knew the young lad had it to spare because of inheritance from his mothers death.
Id say she does have good health insurance,so good they cover the $127000 hospital bill but also with a stipulation that she sues whoever caused the damage to try and recover the money,insurance companies always try to recover the money.She probably sued her nephew after getting assurances from a solicitor that the case would be thrown out immediately. If she had to pay those hospital bills herself she could have went bankrupt,over a broken wrist,that is the bigger story.
That’s not how Health insurance works in NYC. So there’s no such stipulations, Karl.
If the family had contents or liabilities insurance thats exactly how it would work.
I live in NYC, I have health insurance and I’ve had to make plenty of claims. If you’re covered, you generally pay very little and there’s no such stipulations like you describe in order to have your medical bills payed. It’s not like car insurance where you claim it back, it’s paid automatically and you just pay a small co-pay/deductible. Thrust me, that is ridicules.
Awful backwards country at times.
No, it was one idiot who was told to fck off by a jury.
True, but it says she basically had to sue to get her medical expenses paid. I’m delighted she was told to fck off, but the fact that she had to go down that avenue is backwards.
I’d break her other wrist…stupid b**ch !!!
Just what can expect here in the good old USofA. Being Irish and working in the US I keep a larger than normal personnel space between myself and
Did you even read the article? No, of course not.
The story is all over the wire here twit. You obviously have never been sued and fraudulently at that. I spent a small fortune defending my business against spurious claim. Which involved oral dental damage to the tune of $70,000. The case was eventually thrown out after costing $12,000 in court cost that I will never recoup.
Then she’d sue you for that. Sure where would it end then?! She’d have 2 snapped wrists, another date in court and you’d be sent to the Joy. Violence has its place for sure Aidan but not here… Unless she came at you with a hug and it was in self defense, it’s not called for.
“Get on the telly and tell ‘em you still love me, or I’ll crush you, you snotty nosed little twerp”.
My suspicions are that the two of them might have been conspiring on this one.
He might have been on a nice little earner.
It probably wouldn’t haven taken much to pay off a kid either. “I’ll take the cash and buy you a bar of chocolate every day for a whole year”. “A whole year? Deal.”
‘Can’t I even get to keep the suit Auntie Jennifer?’
“Suit? What do ya want a goddam suit for, you’re 12. I’ll give you a suit alright. A straight jacket is what you’ll be wearing if you don’t take that off right now and put it back into that suit bag before you get chocolate all over it. Don’t make me come over to ya.”
The law suit you mean?
Well preserved without a doubt.
She’s also a Human Resources Manager (chuckle)
Every publication who made a big deal out of this suit should be ashamed of itself.
This was a non-story turned into a click-bait fiasco by the media.
It is not unusual for people to sue as a means to (legitimately) get insurance money. You have unfairly made it look as though it was a pernicious act. It is utterly pathetic journalism.
I can’t believe her medical bills for a broken wrist was $1,27,000!!
A bit like the case over here recently where the blind man fell out his friends window and had to sue his friends to claim off the house insurance.
Deborah $127,000 for medical costs for a broken wrist in the US, sounds about right. Charge for trip to A+E is about $2,000 by itself. Then doctor’s fee X-ray, charge for cast or splint plus all the other charges. That’s just A+E. the article says nothing about how bad break was.
The other side of is the health system over there is corrupt and if you don’t have health insurance, your screwed, most ppl end up in debt after hospital treatment .
This kid shows more maturity as a 12 year old than the aunt in question.
It’s quite common here after a traffic accident involving life changing injuries for say a wife to sue a husband for damages to be paid by his insurance and vice versa..It’s not personal and the couple remain married.It’s to pay for any losses and pain and suffering caused.Probably similar to what happened in this case.Although the woman in the case above seemed to take inordinately long to take the case.
She should get the Cersi treatment from Game of Thrones. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.
Jennifer Connell dropped the O for the soup I’d say
Saw this on Facebook and I really thought (and hoped) this was fake! What an absolute cow!
Still loves her =
The luck will turn on her…
* Still loves her = 13
WOW
This story is another numbers game with probably Zero truth in it..
“Disgrace” = 66
“a complete shock” = 11
accident happened on 18 March, 2011.> 13
“Negligence And Carelessness” = 239 Plutonium.
In other news ..”LAMOR ODOM” is a word for word anagram for “ALARM DOOM” .
Spelling Error : ”LAMAR ODOM” is a word for word anagram for “ALARM DOOM” .
How can an 8 year old break your wrist by jumping into your arms?
In fairness, neither of them resorted to guns in order to sort out their differences. It’s hard to love the ones you kill.
In the USA, real life is even more off the wall than the zaniest television drama.
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