Posted: 30 January 2020

Baby friendly accreditation for Trust health visiting service

The Trust Health Visiting Service has been awarded the prestigious Baby Friendly Award and is the latest UK health care facility to win international recognition from Unicef (United Nation’s Children’s Fund). 

"We joined forces with Unicef UK's Baby Friendly Initiative to increase breastfeeding rates and to improve care for all mothers in Buckinghamshire,” said Sally Sharpe, Infant Feeding Coordinator.

"Breastfeeding protects babies against a wide range of serious illnesses including gastroenteritis and respiratory infections in infancy as well as asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life. We also know that breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of some cancers – although mums might also be interested in hearing that it is easier, cheaper and simply less hassle than bottle feeding,” added Sally.

“But however a mother chooses to feed her baby, she can be sure that she will be supported to form a strong, loving relationship with her newborn – through having maximum skin to skin contact and understanding how her baby communicates with her and needs her to respond.”

The Baby Friendly Initiative, set up by Unicef and the World Health Organisation, is a global programme which provides a practical and effective way for health services to improve the care provided for all mothers and babies. In the UK, the initiative works with UK public services to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and to strengthen mother-baby and family relationships. Support for these relationships is important for all babies, not only those who are breastfed. The Award is given to health care services after an assessment by a Unicef team has shown that recognised best practice standards are in place.

"We are delighted that the Health Visiting service in Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has achieved full Baby Friendly status," said Baby Friendly Initiative Programme Director, Sue Ashmore. “Surveys show us that most mothers want to breastfeed but don’t always get the support they need. Mothers in Buckinghamshire can be confident that their health visiting teams will provide high standards of care.”