Renfrewshire North and West MSP Natalie Don has voiced her support for an awareness week that “helps to highlight the importance of breastfeeding and the benefits it brings to mothers and their babies”.

World Breastfeeding Week runs until Monday, August 7 and this year’s theme is “Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a difference for working parents".

The campaign highlights the impact of workplace support, paid leave, and emerging parenting norms on the issue.

Both UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are promoting this week, emphasising the need for greater breastfeeding support across all workplaces to sustain and improve progress on breastfeeding rates globally.

The politician told the Gazette: “This is an important campaign to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding and equally, shine a light on some of the barriers that women face on their breastfeeding journeys.

“It is not easy to return to work after maternity leave, never mind the added worry of how you and your baby are going to cope if you are breastfeeding.

“Having employers who are understanding of this and who will facilitate a supportive working environment will help to ensure that mothers are empowered to make their own choices when it comes to feeding their baby.”

According to the politician, a good place to start is the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme.

The scheme aims to promote and encourage breastfeeding by providing information and training to businesses, employers, services and organisations on how to make premises friendly and welcoming for nursing mums.

“There are now over 130 places across Renfrewshire who are signed up and it has been great to see this number continue to rise through the year,“ she added.

“I hope this year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme has helped to highlight some of the inequalities that many women still face and inspires action to overcome this.”