This week (1-7 August 2024) the Trust is marking World Breastfeeding Week, a global campaign to raise awareness on themes related to breastfeeding.
This year the theme is ‘Closing the gap – breastfeeding for all’.
It is important that we recognise breastfeeding and its success is not the sole responsibility of the mother, but that she receives support from her society, community and all health care workers she comes into contact with. It is all our responsibility to support these mothers to achieve what they wish to achieve.
As a Trust we will be marking the week with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) appreciation day to celebrate the invaluable support provided by these dedicated professionals to our families.
IBCLC’s are highly experienced, trained and qualified to help parents and babies to breastfeed. At our Trust, we are lucky enough to have two qualified IBCLC’s working within maternity to help colleagues undergoing training prior to their exam. All this is to ensure we provide the highest level of lactation support throughout the Trust to benefit our families.
We will also be posting some patient stories later on this week to celebrate individual stories and milestones they have overcome, so keep an eye out on our website and social channels for that.
You can find more breastfeeding support below:
- Breastfeeding Peer Support
We are very lucky to have access to breastfeeding peer support within the Preston and South Ribble areas. This is provided by NCT and they have a Facebook page and closed group for support.
All women in Lancashire also have access to a breastfeeding app called ANYA. This is free during pregnancy and around four months postnatally depending on where you live. It has advice, videos and the ability to talk to a lactation consultant if you are struggling.
The breastfeeding helpline is open Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm on 0209 752 9025. You can also find more information and support on the Breastfeeding Network website here.
- Donating milk
Is your baby under six months? Do you have enough milk for your baby and others? Then you could look into donating.
Donor milk is used within neonatal units including ours at the Trust. We are also a satellite site for Chester Milk Bank, meaning we have a large stock on site for easy use. This means all the babies we care for can have quick access to all the donor milk they need. For more information click here.
