New mothers are more likely to breastfeed if offered shopping vouchers as an incentive, a study shows.
Rates were a fifth higher among a test group of women who were entitled to £200 (R3600) of coupons.
Researchers leading the NHS-funded trial said mothers felt “rewarded” for breastfeeding and wanted to carry on for longer.
The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world and only 1% of mothers give their babies breast milk exclusively for the recommended six months.
Experts say women are not given enough support to breastfeed in the early days of motherhood and then feel embarrassed or uncomfortable doing it in public.
Overseen by researchers from Sheffield and Dundee universities, the trial involved 10010 new mothers between 2015 and 2016 living in deprived areas of South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
It formed part of a wider NHS-funded trial to offer women vouchers for breastfeeding which has been run since 2013.