Two million pledged for breastfeeding drive

Dawn Primarolo, public health minister, announced that the extra cash would seek to help improve the UK's breastfeeding rate, which is among the lowest in Europe.

The extra funding will help support hospitals in disadvantaged areas to achieve Unicef Baby-Friendly Status, a set of best practice standards for maternity units and community services on improving practice to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

The government will monitor progress through measuring the prevalence of breastfeeding at six to eight weeks in all primary care trusts as a key indicator of the child health and wellbeing Public Service Agreement target.

"By international standards not enough women breastfeed in England," Primarolo said. "This money will help more mums - particularly those in more deprived areas - to breastfeed and to do so for longer. We want to ensure women know the importance of breastfeeding and the benefits to themselves and their baby."

In England 78 per cent of mothers initiate breastfeeding while Norway has a 99 per cent rate.