People seek NHS advice on drinking and breastfeeding at Christmas

NHS website information on drinking while breastfeeding saw the highest increase in visits at Christmas last year, new figures show.

Among the most visited pages on Christmas and Boxing Day in 2023 were advice coughs, colds and chest infections.

But some people also wanted to know about drinking and breastfeeding, alcohol poisoning and rabies, NHS England said.

Page views on burns and scalds and how to treat them also increased.

In terms of health conditions, the most commonly viewed page after Covid-19 was for the winter vomiting norovirus with 19,170 visits over the 48-hour festive period in 2023.

Some 17,398 other visits – around one every 10 seconds – were for chest infections, while pages on diarrhoea and vomiting had 11,789 views.

Overall views on pages of the NHS website relating to breastfeeding and drinking alcohol were lower, but increased by 146% – from 1,028 to 2,526 – compared to the week before Christmas.

Alcohol can pass into your breastmilk and then into your baby when you feed them, the NHS advises.

An occasional drink is unlikely to harm your baby, especially if you wait at least two hours after having a drink before feeding, it adds, but warns: “Regularly drinking above the recommended limits can be harmful for you and your baby.”

There was also a 60% rise in people seeking information on alcohol poisoning during the festive period compared to a normal 48 hours, with hits up from 1,268 to 2,008.

And visits to pages about animal and human bites increased by a third to 1,494 from 1,128.

Hits on NHS pages about rabies increased by 123% to 1,564 over Christmas compared to 700 a week earlier.

Page views on burns and scalds and how to treat them increased by 50% compared to the week before Christmas to 2,748 from 1,782.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said accidents and injuries can happen and that the NHS website and the NHS App are available around the clock to provide help and information.

“So if you do burn yourself putting the roast potatoes in the oven, or you pick up a winter virus and want some support to manage the symptoms, the NHS website is the best place to find useful advice on what to do.”

He said NHS staff would be working hard throughout the festive season to provide care for those most in need.

Anyone in need of emergency help should contact 999, or 111 for less urgent health needs.