Welcome to our website, all about the Infant Feeding Project in Blackpool and North Lancashire,which is moving the areas' NHS Communities and Children's Centres, and now the two Acute Trusts of Blackpool Fylde & Wyre, and Lancaster towards becoming 'Baby Friendly', via the Baby Friendly Initiative. We hope these pages answer some of your questions, if not please get in touch via
comms@nwnwbabyfriendly.org.uk
What is the Baby Friendly Initiative? 
The Baby Friendly Initiative is a global programme of UNICEF and the World Health Organization which works with health services to improve practice so that parents are enabled and supported to make informed choices about how they feed and care for their babies.
The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative works with UK health services to improve the care and support provided for mothers and babies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative believes that all hospitals, health centres and GP surgeries should provide this high standard of care for mothers and babies and therefore ask them to adopt recognised best practice standards in support of breastfeeding.
Baby Friendly health care facilities are the ones which have adopted these standards and changed the way they care for pregnant women and new mothers.
Leaflets are produced for parents in different languages, which include important information about feeding and caring for your baby. You can download and print these from the main UNICEF BFI website.
You will also find an extensive list of research into the benefits of breastfeeding and the hazards of artificial feeding.
Unfortunately, we are not set up to provide answers to individual breastfeeding queries, which we recommend you discuss with your midwife or health visitor or, if your baby is in hospital, the staff caring for her/him. You may also wish to contact one of the mother support organisations - see the list of contact details below. If you are a Blackpool or North Lancashire Health Care Professional with a query, please get in touch with the project via the email address above.
Any information on this website may be reproduced, but not for use in conjunction with any commercial purpose.
Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to feed a baby. It is possible, but difficult, for mothers to reverse a decision not to breastfeed or to re-start breastfeeding once they have stopped. Introducing partial bottle feeding will reduce a mother’s breastmilk supply. Breastfeeding mothers do not need to eat any special foods but it is recommended that, just like everyone else, they follow a healthy diet.
Assessment, accreditation and awards
The Baby Friendly Initiative accredits maternity and community facilities which adopt internationally-recognised standards of best practice. There are two main Baby Friendly awards - The Certificate of Commitment and full Baby Friendly accreditation.
A Certificate of Commitment is the first step towards the full award and is assessed by post and via an action planning visit.
From January 2007 health care facilities will be encouraged to work towards full accreditation in stages. Stage 1 will assess policies and procedures, Stage 2 the staff education programme and Stage 3 the care provided to pregnant women and new mothers. As facilities work through the stages their progress will be recorded on the Baby Friendly Progress Lists.
Hospitals, health centres and surgeries with full Baby Friendly accreditation have been externally assessed at each stage to prove that they have adopted all the best practice standards. Assessment is a rigorous procedure and ensures a high standard of care. Accredited facilites are required to undergo repeat assessments every few years to maintain the right to call themselves Baby Friendly. They can be expected to provide a high standard of care for mothers and babies, in line with the Ten Steps (hospitals) or the Seven Point Plan (community facilities).
Facilities with a Certificate of Commitment are in the process of becoming Baby Friendly and are working to improve the way they care for mothers and babies. These facilities may not yet provide the highest standard of care, as the necessary changes are still being made. Facilities which have registered their intention to work towards accreditation have not been assessed and we have no information about the standard of care they currently provide. Blackpool PCT and North Lancashire Training PCT, together with each area's Childrens Centres HAVE the certificates of commitment: North Lancashire are working towards Stage One Accreditation and Blackpool are working towards Stage Two.
Have a look at the Unicef baby friendly website for more information about awards and the process involved in achieving accreditation.
If you are not from NWNW Lancashire, you can find out if your health care facility has a Baby Friendly award by looking through the list of accredited facilities. For community facilities, only those with an award are listed; for hospitals, all those with a maternity unit are listed, even if they have no accreditation status. You can also search for your nearest hospital and write a letter to the chief executive regarding the care provided for mothers and babies: use this link to find out if your local community or hospital is Baby Friendly yet.
Mother support groups and infant feeding organisations
If you would like to talk to a breastfeeding counsellor you may like to contact one of the organisations listed below.
The Breastfeeding Network (BfN)
The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM)
La Leche League GB (LLLGB)
The National Childbirth Trust (NCT)
The Multiple Births Foundation
There is also now a National Breastfeeding Helpline, manned by qualified members of the ABM and the BfN - they may be reached on 0300 100 0212.
Additionally, the BfN have a Bengali / Sylheti Supporterline number: 0300 456 2421
Other useful organisations are:
Baby Milk Action - for information about the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and legislation to control the promotion of bottle feeding
Lactation Consultants of Great Britain
UK Association for Milk Banking
Baby Cafe Charitable Trust - drop-in centres for pregnant and breastfeeding mums
Local Blackpool and North Lancs Breastfeeding drop in centres:
Call in to any of the local groups for a warm welcome. Meet up with other local mums, and get information and support from health professionals and breastfeeding peer supporters: mothers who are trained and registered with a breastfeeding organisation.
Go to the DOWNLOADS section to see a download of the local groups for your area.