Amy Brown is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. She is a Professor of Child Public Health at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

who specialises in maternal and child health, particularly

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

. She campaigns to bring about better support for women who want to

breastfeed Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO ...

and to improve the UK public's attitude towards breastfeeding in public.

Career

Brown began her academic career with a first in Psychology at

before undertaking an MSc in social research methods at the same institution gaining a distinction. 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. She completed her part-time PhD in Psychology in 2010. 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.

Research

Brown's research concerns the UK having the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. She researches social barriers to breastfeeding and works with those in

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

to create an environment conducive to breastfeeding. 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. Her work indicates that the NHS could save £40 million a year if breastfeeding rates were increased. Brown has engaged with the public about breastfeeding and for a change in public attitudes towards breastfeeding in public. She noted in 2016 that 'more people in the UK believe smacking is acceptable than believe that breastfeeding in public is okay.' Only 0.5% of British babies are breastfed for more than a year, whereas the figures in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the United States were more than 20% in 2016. Brown's research has been picked up in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, 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 Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

, Patti Rundall OBE and Professor Annie Anderson as its patrons.

Publications

Brown has published over 63 peer-reviewed articles 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'' (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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Amy Living people Academics of Swansea University Alumni of Swansea University Dietitians Welsh women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Welsh scientists 21st-century Welsh women scientists