Amy Brown (dietitian)

Brown began her academic career with a first in Psychology at Swansea University before undertaking an MSc in social research methods at the same institution gaining a distinction.[1][2] Brown began her doctorate at Swansea in 2005 whilst also pregnant. She considers that pregnancy changed the emphasis of her work from infant to baby diets.[3] She completed her part-time PhD in Psychology in 2010.[1]

Following her PhD Brown was appointed lecturer in 2011 at Swansea University and became Professor of Child Public Health in March 2018, leading Swansea University's MSC in Child Public Health.[2]

Brown's research concerns the UK having the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.[4] She researches social barriers to breastfeeding and works with those in public health to create an environment conducive to breastfeeding.[5] Brown has collected data from over 30,000 mothers on infant behaviour and the impact of formula and baby care on it and maternal health.[6] Her work indicates that the NHS could save £40 million a year if breastfeeding rates were increased.[7] Brown has engaged with the public about breastfeeding and for a change in public attitudes towards breastfeeding in public.[8] She noted in 2016 that 'more people in the UK believe smacking is acceptable than believe that breastfeeding in public is okay.'[7] Only 0.5% of British babies are breastfed for more than a year, whereas the figures in Germany and the United States were more than 20% in 2016.[7]

Brown's research has been picked up in Ireland, which shares with the UK a poor rate of breastfeeding. Ireland compounds this by exporting large volumes of baby formula milk; it is the second-largest exporter to China.

Brown is a trustee of "First Steps Nutrition", an independent public health nutrition charity that supports eating well from pre-conception to five years and counts Jamie Oliver, Patti Rundall OBE and Professor Annie Anderson as its patrons.[9]

Brown has published over 63 peer-reviewed articles[10] and has several books on the topic of infant feeding and parenting published by Pinter and Martin:

• Breastfeeding Uncovered: Who really decides how we feed our babies? (2016)
• Why Starting Solids Matters (2017)
• The Positive Breastfeeding Book: Everything you need to feed your baby with confidence[3] (2018)
• Informed is best: how to spot fake news about your pregnancy, birth and baby (2019)
• Why breastfeeding grief and trauma matter (2019)
• Let’s talk about the first year of parenting (2020)