Infant feeding experts at NCIC are reminding mums of all the support that is available for mums surrounding breastfeeding, on World Breastfeeding Week, which takes place between 1 to 7 August. The theme this year is ‘Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all’.
The week highlights the benefits of breastfeeding and aims to raise awareness of the help and advice available to promote, protect and support breastfeeding for all. The main message of the week is how amazing breastfeeding is and to raise the profile of all the wonderful support available in our area.
Andrea Harriman, Infant Feeding Lead, and Specialist Midwife at NCIC, said: “Breastfeeding provides infants with all the nutrients they need but it also provides comfort, love and protection.
“Breastfeeding is the biological norm, provides the best start in life and has a positive impact on a baby’s development, from strengthening immunity and reducing the risk of infections to emotional bonding and building long term mental and physical resilience.
“It also has a positive impact for mums and improves their health too by lowering the incidence of certain cancers, disease, depression and diabetes.”
The infant feeding team has produced a range of videos to help you breastfeed at home.
Andrea said: “As an infant feeding lead specialist midwife, I support mothers and their partners to breastfeed, as well as raising awareness of breastfeeding to ultimately improve the health of those in our area.”
Her advice for women struggling with breastfeeding: “Don’t give up on a bad day! Breastfeeding takes practice, you and your baby have to learn together and it takes time to learn this new skill. We’d encourage you to access some support to get to the bottom of up the difficulty, sometimes a small tweak really can make a big difference. You can do this!”