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• Foreword >
• NSR Summary >
• Launch Podcasts >
• The Context for Yorkshire and the Humber >
• The Methodology of the Review >
• The Case for Change >
• The Staying Healthy
  Pathway >
• The Maternity
  and Newborn Pathway >
• The Long Term
  Conditions Pathway >
• The Children's
  Pathway >
• The Planned
  Care Pathway >
• The Acute
  Episode Pathway >
• The Mental
  Health Pathway >
• The End of
  Life Pathway >
• Implications for
  Delivery Models >
• Turning our
  Recommendations
  into Reality >
• Full NSR Report >

Appendix

• Technical Appendix >

Resources

• Resource List >

The Maternity and Newborn Pathway

Birth – a good start in life

1
All our babies deserve the best start in life. This chapter sets out what the NHS in Y&H should do to help make this happen. We want to build on the best Y&H offers at present and the latest evidence in order to meet the challenges of the next decade.

The Case for Change

Inequalities

Around 63,000 babies are born in Y&H each year, and this figure is set to rise. From the very start of their lives these babies face major inequalities – for example:

• There is wide variation in uptake of breastfeeding – babies in Calderdale are over 50% more likely to be started on breastfeeding than babies in Hull; see figure 15 opposite. Breastfeeding is known to have many beneficial effects. It protects the mother from breast cancer, ovarian cancer and hip fractures in later life. It reduces childhood obesity, protects the baby from gastroenteritis, ear, chest and urinary tract infections, allergies and diabetes.

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