Paying for 'migrant baby boom'
Post categories: Flint, Hot Topics, Wrexham
| 09:26 UK time, Wednesday, 30 January 2008
The debate about rising number of migrant workers in the region takes a new twist today with news that nationally the NHS is spending £350m a year to provide maternity services for foreign-born mothers, £200m more than a decade ago, says BBC News home editor Mark Easton.
And while the number of babies born to British mothers has fallen by 44,000 a year since the mid-1990s, the figure for babies born to foreign mothers has risen by 64,000 - a 77% increase which has pushed the overall birth-rate to its highest level for 26 years.
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PS. A support service to improve the rate of breastfeeding on Caia Park housing estate, Wrexham, is having great results, with more mums breastfeeding and for longer, says Wrexham Local Health Board. In 2005 the number of mums from Caia Park choosing to breastfeed was 30%, now up to 35%. Those mums still breastfeeding at 8 weeks is 49% compared to only 7% in 2006.
