The Lowdown’s infant feeding survey in partnership with Feed UK

Why did we do this?

In February 2025, an organisation called the CMA (Competitions and Markets Authority) released their long awaited report on the state of powdered infant formula in the UK. The report highlighted the huge guilt and shame some parents feel about formula feeding, particularly when breastfeeding has not worked out, and the lack of proactive information about formula feeding from the NHS despite the fact that most families will need to or choose to use it.

UK politicians now have 90 days to respond to the CMA’s recommendations – and at The Lowdown, we saw this as a critical opportunity to campaign for much-needed change to infant feeding guidance in the UK.

We know from our community, and from our own experiences as mothers, just how hard to navigate breastfeeding can be. We’ve lost count of the number of women who’ve told us they felt ashamed for struggling with breastfeeding – or for not wanting to do it at all.

So, in partnership with Feed UK, in February 2025 we launched a survey to collect mothers’ experiences of infant feeding in the UK under NHS guidelines. Thanks to our community’s participation, Feed UK has now compiled a report to communicate these crucial findings directly to the Department of Health and UK MPs. 

Our findings

From 830 responses, here is what we discovered: 

• Only 4% of you said the information you received during pregnancy about infant feeding was balanced, evidence-based, and fairly presented across all options.
• Nearly half of women who tried breastfeeding said the challenges affected how they felt as a mother (49%) or made them feel low or anxious during the postpartum period (48%).
• Just 6% of you support the current NHS approach, where formula feeding is only discussed if a woman raises it. In contrast, 85% said all feeding options should be discussed proactively, ideally during pregnancy.
• While most women planned to exclusively breastfeed in line with NHS guidance, 68% of us ended up using formula within the first weeks or months – yet healthcare professionals are still discouraged from offering reassurance or support around formula use.

Read the full report

There’s so much more in the full report, and if you’ve ever struggled with feeding your baby, we really encourage you to read it. It shows clearly: you are not alone – and it sheds light on the cultural, emotional, and policy-driven dynamics that shape this area of healthcare. 

The bottom line? We need NHS infant feeding policy to change – to reflect real women’s experiences, to meet their needs, and to prepare every parent for the full range of feeding journeys, including when formula is needed.

How you can help

If this report has motivated you to get involved in driving change for mothers in the UK, here are a few things you can do. Firstly, you can sign this petition calling on the Government to overhaul NHS infant feeding policy and centre women’s choices and voices. You can also share the report with your MP (it always helps to include your own experiences) and ask them to join the campaign for change. You can find their email address here.