One hundred locations across Bridlington have joined a campaign to become breast-feeding friendly.
Last year, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with the East Riding Children’s Centres, launched their Breastfeeding Bridlington campaign, which committed to enhancing safe spaces for mothers to breastfeed their children in their local communities.
Starting 2023 off with a success, the teams behind the campaign are celebrating a fantastic 100 locations across Bridlington being breastfeeding friendly. This means that 100 business owners in our communities have signed up to the local partnership scheme, which involves the implementation of the Breastfeeding Friendly Network (BfN) scheme’s core principles on their premises.
Businesses include cafes, shops and restaurants, and their application to the scheme clearly demonstrates their commitment to ‘welcoming and supporting breastfeeding families’ and ‘improving understanding amongst their staff about why breastfeeding is important and how it is protected’.
Businesses can be spotted by the recognisable breastfeeding friendly sticker in their windows. You can also find out more on the team’s website here.
Iain Garner, Owner of Ruby SoHo Café, Bridlington, said:
“I signed up to the scheme straight away as breastfeeding is promoting the health of future generations and I want the mums and families who visit my café to feel a 100% comfortable when Mum needs to breastfeed. I already have a changing area for families and so this scheme was perfect in expanding the family environment I already provide to my customers”.
In the UK, 8 out of 10 mothers claim they have stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to. When explaining the reasons behind this, the mothers note access to support and a lack of information as being the key drivers.
Other Barriers identified included negative public attitudes and embarrassment about breastfeeding in public.
It is the Breastfeeding Bridlington team’s aim to help families in the East Riding, by providing them more safer spaces and access to support, to inspire confidence and reassurance when feeding their babies.
Louise Shafei, Infant Feeding Lead at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We chose to launch this campaign in Bridlington due to the low number of mothers choosing to breastfeed in the town. We want to be a key player in ensuring that there is as much support as possible for new parents locally, to reduce barriers to breastfeeding and to increase the areas in which people can feel safe and comfortable to feed their baby when out and about.
We hope that this open and welcoming approach will start conversations that normalise breastfeeding in public and actively demonstrate the value of breastfeeding to the wider community.”
Sarah Standing and Sharon Sunter, Breastfeeding Champions at the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Children’s Centres, said:
“We cannot believe the positive response we have received when speaking to businesses and venues in Bridlington about joining the scheme. It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk to the Bridlington community about breastfeeding, a subject we are passionate about, and the positive reaction of Bridlington businesses and venues has bowled us over!”
This breastfeeding friendly scheme is made possible due to a local partnership and collaboration between Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s Integrated Specialist Public Health Nursing service (ISPHNs), the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Children’s Centres,and local maternity services.
Councillor Victoria Aitken, portfolio holder for children and young people’s education, health and wellbeing, said: “It’s imperative that families across the East Riding feel comfortable to appropriately care for their children no matter where they are, and this milestone proves how we are making a change for the better.
100 breastfeeding-friendly businesses across Bridlington is a huge number, and I’m sure it will only continue to grow. It’s wonderful to see the community coming together to ensure the safety and support of mothers and their children and continuing to normalise such an integral part of parenthood.”
If you have a local business and you would like to sign up to the local scheme as part of the Breastfeeding Bridlington campaign, please contact the team via email hnf-tr.isphnspoc@nhs.net
You can find out more about breastfeeding support available across the whole of the East Riding, here: https://humberisphn.nhs.uk/east-yorkshire-breastfeeding-support/
