Should Teesside mams be paid to breastfeed?

Experts say paying new mams for breastfeeding their kids could "significantly" boost the number that are doing it.

Academics down in Sheffield offered shopping vouchers to those who breastfed to try and boost the value parents put on it.

More than 10,000 mothers took part in the research.

Dr Claire Relton led the study - she says it had a really positive impact on them:

"Those that we talked to felt that they felt rewarded by the scheme and felt supported. Interestingly they sometimes use the scheme to motivate themselves. One mum said I just spent the money on good food because I knew I needed good food in order to breastfeed my baby."

"Breastfeeding's quite invisible. When was the last time you saw someone breastfeeding on TV? I think that's symptomatic of the fact that as a society we're not valuing breastfeeding enough. Our financial incentive scheme was just one way of trying to increase the perceived value of breastfeeding."

Breastfeeding levels in the UK are among the lowest in the world - in some areas just 12% of six to eight-week-old babies are breastfed.

Here on Teesside it's particularly bad:

The most recent figures from Public Health England show less than 1 in 4 new mams here are breastfeeding their 6 to 8 week old baby.

In Redcar and Cleveland only 23.9% rely totally or partially on breastfeeding at that age.

The national average was 49.6% - in Middlesbrough it's 28.7% and in Stockton it's 29.2%, so there's plenty to work on.