NEWS FEATURE

NEWS FEATURE

Breastfeeding: supporting work throughout the year

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week is useful in drawing attention to local services and providing a focus for the public and the media
Kin Ly
Assistant editor

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week (NBAW) takes place on 21 to 27 June, and many practitioners in all four countries of the UK will be organising events focusing on this years theme Breastfeeding: every day is good for your baby. Many practitioners see NBAW as a good way to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and draw press attention to local support groups for mothers, though on-going, year-round initiatives are needed to increase and sustain breastfeeding rates.

Using NBAW as a focus Caithness Breast Friends is an online networking website in Scotland that puts local breastfeeding mothers in touch with each other so that they can support each

On-going, year-round initiatives are needed to increase and sustain breastfeeding rates
other with breastfeeding. In the past, the organisation has set up a stall in Thurso to promote its service during NBAW.

Caithness Breast Friends founder Fiona Matthews states: We were not only targeting mothers but grandmothers and the extended family so that they could help promote breastfeeding as something that is socially acceptable. In the Highlands, mothers are generally too shy to breastfeed in public and that is one of the biggest barriers that we have here. She adds: I am not sure that NBAW directly helps breastfeeding rates, but it certainly helps to increase awareness of this type of support for mothers in the area. Generally, it is a good idea to have a week devoted to promoting breastfeeding. If NBAW did not exist, there would not be the incentive to organise such events. In that respect, it is worthwhile. Also, the local press does pick up on these activities, and in some ways the press coverage can be more useful than the event itself for highlighting what is on offer for breastfeeding mothers. Fiona suggests that events should encourage more interaction to be more engaging: Generally, people who came to the stall were those who were already getting breastfeeding support or who have been involved in a similar support group, so we were not reaching out to new people. It would have been beneficial to have different events that were more participatory, such as a breastfeeding picnic. The events that we have planned for this years NBAW will certainly be more participatory.

Engaging the public and the media Janet Calvert, regional breastfeeding coordinator at Northern Irelands Public

Health Agency (PHA), emphasises how NBAW is valuable in helping to raise awareness: It is difficult to measure the impact that NBAW has on increasing and sustaining breastfeeding rates there are so many factors that are involved in the decision to breastfeed and continuing with it but I do think it is an opportunity for those who work so hard in the statutory and voluntary services to try and improve awareness of breastfeeding. It does give valuable focus. If we all celebrate it at one time, it can be reported in national and local media and there is still value in that. The PHA has previously organised an NBAW pampering event for breastfeeding mothers, which offered reflexology, short presentations and opportunities to meet peer supporters. Janet states: If we go by the number of attendees and feedback from the women who attended, it is clear that there is real potential to engage and help them to realise that there is support for them. In Sutton and Merton last year, a number of roadshows were held for NBAW. The events were helpful in engaging the local population and providing information on health benefits. Infant feeding advisor Sue Taylor, who works for Epsom and St Helier University Hospital NHS Trust and Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust, states: We connected with the public by inviting them to fill out a quiz in return for a raffle ticket for a prize draw. The quiz asked questions such as Would breastfeeding reduce the risk of ovarian cancer? Do you know how long breastmilk can be kept out for? and What is in breastmilk? Before drawing the winning tickets, we provided the answers to the quiz, and everyone was astonished at the answers. This got them talking about the health benefits of breastfeeding. We got support from Debenhams, Mothercare and garden centres for the prizes. For this years NBAW, Caithness Breast Friends will be adopting an early intervention approach its infant feeding advisors will be visiting a number of primary schools in the area to talk to children about the benefits of breastfeeding. Fiona states: Last year, a colleague of ours did a presentation in a number of schools that really engaged the children. The aim was to allay any misconceptions
June 2010 Volume 83 Number 6

that they may have of breastfeeding, and to try and promote the idea that it is normal to breastfeed. There was also a poster competition, where the children were asked to make a poster that promoted breastfeeding. Because of the success of this, we are hoping to do this for this years NBAW.

peer supporters to make contact with mothers within the first few weeks of giving birth that they may not give up breastfeeding when they may ordinarily have done.

Need for year-round work Sue stresses the importance of work throughout the year in improving breastfeeding rates: NBAW will only help to bring issues to the forefront it does what it sets out to do, to encourage practitioners to raise awareness. As a trust we are

NBAW can also be used as a springboard for new initiatives that continue to work throughout the year
completely committed to promoting breastfeeding, and we are working toward achieving UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative status. We promote breastfeeding all year round. We keep staff up to date with the most accurate, evidence-based research and ensure that our clients have the right information. She adds: In Sutton and Merton, we offer a walk-in antenatal class, and all pregnant women have my phone number. In the community, there is a volunteer peer support programme. I am working closely with the peer supporters and we will be going through the process of getting them checked through the Criminal Records Bureau. Fiona Matthews says that Caithness Breast Friends is working with the National Childbirth Trust to develop peer supporters: We are hoping that the peer support programme will make a huge difference to breastfeeding rates. The NHS is massively understaffed. Although infant feeding advisors follow all the right protocols and have done all the training, they do not have the time to follow up. She adds: The idea is that the trained peer supporters will contact mothers within 48 hours of them giving birth. We will provide them with all the information and more importantly the emotional support. We are not trying to push people who do not want to breastfeed into it, but we are hoping that by encouraging the

NBAW as a springboard In addition to raising awareness of breastfeeding and local services, NBAW can also be used as a springboard for new initiatives that continue to work throughout the year. For example, the Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme was launched in Wales during NBAW last year, with the aim of encouraging businesses to promote and welcome breastfeeding on their premises. Since its launch, a further 200 venues have signed up to the scheme all over Wales, bringing the total to nearly 350, including restaurants and cafes as well as tourist attractions like the Wales Millennium Centre. In addition, funding was announced to develop an Agored Cymru (formerly known as Open College Network) course in breastfeeding peer support. The aim was to ensure that peer support training across Wales is consistent, and a new badge has been produced to identify qualified breastfeeding peer supporters. Agored Cymru co-ordinator Maria Dowden states: The introduction of the breastfeeding support course and the award demonstrates a fine example of partnership working between the health boards, national and local voluntary breastfeeding organisations, the Welsh Assembly Government and Agored in encouraging and recognising the achievement of breastfeeding peer supporters in their work toward supporting, protecting and promoting breastfeeding. NBAW is clearly an opportunity for practitioners to promote the health benefits of breastfeeding. While activities and events held during this week cannot expect to result directly in immediate increases in breastfeeding initiation or continuation rates, they can be helpful in drawing attention to on-going local services and new initiatives. Further information
For further information about NBAW 2010 and to access Department of Health resources, please see: www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/en/fe/ page.asp?n1=5&n2=13
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COMMUNITY PRACTITIONER

PHOTOLIBRARY

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