Rotherham mums support new breastfeeding campaign

Vicky Wilkinson, Sam Longley, Ben Anderson, Michael Wright and Cllr David Roche
Vicky Wilkinson, Sam Longley, Ben Anderson, Michael Wright and Cllr David Roche signing the Supporting a Breastfeeding Borough Declaration

Rotherham is now officially a breastfeeding friendly borough after the launch of a new campaign to support mums and families to make the right choice for themselves and their babies.

Representatives from Rotherham’s Health and Wellbeing Board, including Rotherham Council, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and other health partners, pledged their support to make Rotherham a breastfeeding friendly borough at a launch event on Wednesday 2 August 2023.

As well as signing the Supporting a Breastfeeding Friendly Borough Declaration, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust also launched the Rotherham Backs Breastfeeding campaign to promote advice, guidance and support services for new mums and families to ensure they have the information and confidence they need to breastfeed.

Breastfeeding offers so many health benefits for both mum and baby that are currently being missed by families who would like to breastfeed. By becoming a Breastfeeding Friendly Borough, it will help these families to feel confident in their choice and to access the benefits which include protection from infection for baby.

It has been welcomed by mums such as mum of two Hayley, who is currently breastfeeding her youngest son, who will be four in a couple of months’ time.

She said: “My experience out in public has actually been quite positive. I've had a few people looking a bit strangely. I remember once I was breastfeeding when my son was a baby, and a gentleman came up to me and he was talking to me. I was terrified. I was really scared, but he didn't even know I was breastfeeding. He just thought I was cuddling my baby.

“This campaign shares that it's not just about the nutrition, there are other benefits as well. Just last week my little one was really poorly and he came to me for a breastfeed and it settled him and he went off to sleep. And you know, that's the magic of breastfeeding past babyhood, I guess it's not for food, it's for all those other lovely things.”

Mum Alisha also welcomed the campaign, saying: “It's good that it's happening. I think it'll help because to bring awareness to it, as we talked about during the whole talk today, it's not shown enough in our culture. In England, bottle feeding is the norm so just to even have photos around helps it become more normal. It's one of the most natural things you can do as a mother.

“It's going to be so helpful for mums to not be afraid, to be empowered, to do it wherever they want and to know what they're doing is right.”

Breastfeeding provides mums and babies with a range of benefits, including providing babies and infants with nourishment, helping to build the bond between mother and baby, and supporting the child’s development.

In the UK, 47 per cent of infants aged six to eight weeks in 2020/21 were breastfed with only one in 200 mums deciding to continue breastfeeding after a year. The Council and health partners are now looking at ways that they can support mums who wish to continue breastfeeding.

Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Care and Public Health, Cllr David Roche, said: “Breastfeeding offers mums and babies a range of benefits, but it is sad that many mums decide to stop breastfeeding sooner than they would like to. There can be a lot of reasons for this, such as the need to go back to work or pressure from people around them to stop. The Council believes that mums should be able to breastfeed as long as they want to and will be working with partners and businesses across the borough to support and advise them how they can support mums.”

Vicky Wilkinson, from The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust’s Infant Feeding Team, said: “My team in the 0-19 service work closely with mums to ensure they get the information they need so they can make the right choices for them. We do hear occasional stories of women being challenged for breastfeeding in public spaces which can have a huge impact on a mum’s confidence and have an adverse effect on their, and their baby’s, health. We are working with residents and businesses to take away the stigma around breastfeeding. It’s a perfectly natural way for mums to feed babies and infants and offers a range of health benefits. We believe that every mum should be able to breastfeed whenever she needs to without fear of being challenged or shamed.”

Further information about infant feeding choices can be found online on The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust’s YouTube channel.

For further information about the Breastfeeding Friendly Borough, go to www.rotherhamhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/

Published: 9th August 2023