Northumbria receives first Health Visiting Baby Friendly Achieving Sustainability Gold Award

Many congratulations to Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for receiving the first Health Visiting Baby Friendly Achieving Sustainability Gold Award.

This wonderful achievement is a mark of the service’s high quality care for babies, mothers and their families, with a particular focus on infant feeding and parent-infant relationships. This is the first Gold Award to be given for support provided outside of hospitals and reflects the hard work of health visitors, nursery nurses and breastfeeding support workers in giving all babies the best possible start in life.

Debbie Wade, midwife/health visitor and infant feeding co-ordinator at Northumbria Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to be the first trust in the country to receive this prestigious award for the support we provide in the community.

“The simple fact is that breastmilk is best for baby and breastfeeding and being breastfed have major health benefits for women and babies. It reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer for women and reduces the risk of gastroenteritis, ear and chest infections in babies and has a lifelong effect on the health of their heart.

“In Northumberland we’re passionate about doing all we can to encourage women to breastfeed, giving them the practical and emotional support they need to feel able, confident and comfortable to breastfeed.

“The support we give is having a real impact on women with 17 per cent more women breastfeeding at six weeks after they’re given birth, and beyond, when they receive this type of additional support.

“We’re extremely pleased with the many positive comments from women about the support we give and this award will act as a springboard for us to continue our efforts to increase the number of women breastfeeding yet further.”

Find out more about the Baby Friendly Achieving Sustainability standards and how they are supporting services to embed high quality care for the long-term.