A smiling mother and baby together. The mother has her nose rested on the babies' hand.

The Nottinghamshire County Council Family Hub service has been accredited at Gold Standard for the second time, under the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) scheme, an internationally recognised quality standard for infant feeding support from health and public sector organisations.

This means that families who choose to breastfeed their babies can be assured of first-class support throughout their infant feeding journey. The scheme also looks at how families are supported with bonding and attachment, recognising baby cues to ensure responsive infant feeding and appropriate support for parents and carers with emotional wellbeing.

The county council’s Family Hubs service has been supported to gain this accreditation with support from the Infant Feeding team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Both the Healthcare Trust and the Family Hub service will continue to work together to ensure local families receive exceptional support around breastfeeding.

One of the vital services that the Family Hub teams provide is a parent-led group called BABES, where parents volunteer to support local families with breastfeeding and infant feeding.

Councillor Rory Green, Cabinet Member for Children and Families at Nottinghamshire County Council congratulated the Family Hub service on this achievement, recognising the hard work of the trained breastfeeding peer support volunteers. He said: “I’m very impressed by the professional, caring and kind support provided to families by our incredible staff and trained breastfeeding peer support volunteers, in supporting families to continue with their infant feeding journey. 

“We know that the BABES groups are so valuable, providing much more than feeding advice but also support, information, encouragement and friendship in the early days of being a parent.  The family hubs we have across the county really help to ensure that Nottinghamshire’s youngest residents do get the best start in life.” 

Louise Lester, the county council’s Public Health Consultant with responsibility for Best Start for Life, who is the Baby Friendly Infant Guardian, said: “It’s wonderful that this standard of support is available for families in Nottinghamshire as we know how difficult it can be to breastfeed.

“Breastfeeding is free, has no environmental impact and gives babies the best start with optimal nutrition and immunity. It also supports mums’ health, strengthens the special bond between parent and child, and can have a positive impact on their overall wellbeing and relationships.”

The UNICEF baby friendly assessor stated that there was clear evidence that “a commitment to co-production, co-management and co-review underpins all leadership and development” and that a “system-wide approach to infant feeding is particularly embedded within the Family Hubs”

The National Breastfeeding Helpline has also recently been extended meaning more support is now available for families through the night. You can access breastfeeding support on the phone every day of the year at: 0300 100 0212.

Find your nearest family hub at : https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/care/family-hub-networks/find-your-nearest-family-hub-team

For more information about infant feeding support, visit: https://www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk/kb5/nottinghamshire/directory/advice.page?id=ed7DQsjkgjw#babes

For more information about the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative, visit: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/