New mothers to get more breastfeeding support

A national charity was awarded funding to offer breastfeeding and infant feeding support

Thousands of new mothers in a county are to get extra support with breastfeeding.

Both Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council are funding schemes to provide specialist staff to help.

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) is offering infant feeding support across five of Lancashire's hospital trusts, along with remote support.

Meanwhile, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been given a £183k grant for extra specialist staff in the Royal Blackburn Hospital's wards and birthing unit.

'Health benefits'

The county council's scheme, partnering with the NCT, covers 12 districts across Lancashire where about 12,000 women give birth each year.

The hospitals include Ormskirk District Hospital, Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary, the NCT said.

The support will run for three years until the end of March 2027, the council said.

The NCT said its trained Breastfeeding Peer Supporters also worked to support mothers in the community and there was support online and a telephone service.

Sarah Valentine, NCT's Lancashire Service Delivery Manager, said breastfeeding could be a "struggle, both mentally and physically" and the charity was "delighted" to be able to help across the county.

The current infant feeding peer support service at the Royal Blackburn Hospital will expand from 54 hours over five days to 75 hours over seven days thanks to the funding from Blackburn with Darwen Council, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A council report said: “Blackburn with Darwen have good breastfeeding initiation rates, currently 72 per cent, however we see a drop at six to eight weeks to 53 per cent."

Support workers will help on the ward but also contact breastfeeding mothers at the 10-day mark.

Councillor Julie Gunn from Children’s Services said this was a "key point" when women stopped breastfeeding.

"Providing additional support by contact between mothers and workers at this point should enable more mothers to continue breastfeeding for longer," she added.

Breast milk was the "most nutritious source of food" for infants, she said, adding that it had "numerous health benefits" for both mother and baby.

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