Breast is Best - Brake

4.12.25pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 17th May 2006

Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, dropped into St Helier Hospital's antenatal dept on Wednesday 17th May to lend his support to the campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of breast-feeding.

He met Samantha Boyle, a midwife at St Helier Hospital, staff and parents with their babies.

His visit was timed to coincide with breastfeeding week which runs from the 15th to the 22nd May.

Tom Brake said, "The evidence is very clear, breast-fed children are healthier. We must do everything we can to make it easier for Mums to breast-feed where and when it is necessary."

He expressed astonishment at a recent case in Suffolk where a policeman asked a woman to stop breast-feeding in public following a complaint from a member of the public.