Press release – 27 July 2019
2019/030

Baby-friendly is best for Wye Valley NHS Trust

Wye Valley NHS Trust has been awarded the prestigious Baby Friendly Award and is the latest UK health care facility to win international recognition from Unicef (United Nation’s Children’s Fund). 

The Baby Friendly Initiative, set up by Unicef and the World Health Organisation, is a global programme which provides a practical and effective way for health services to improve the care provided for all mothers and babies.   

In the UK, the initiative works with UK public services to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and to strengthen mother-baby and family relationships.  Support for these relationships is important for all babies, not only those who are breastfed. The Award is given to Hospitals and Community health Services after an assessment by a Unicef team has shown that recognised best practice standards are in place. 

"We are delighted that Wye Valley NHS Trust has achieved full Baby Friendly status," said Baby Friendly Initiative Programme Director, Sue Ashmore. “Surveys show us that most mothers want to breastfeed but don’t always get the support they need.  Mothers at Wye Valley NHS Trust can be confident that their midwife and Health Visiting teamswill provide high standards of care”. 

8 out of 10 mothers report that they stopped breastfeeding before they wanted to.  Here in Herefordshire alongside our Baby Friendly accreditation we are working very hard to provide excellent support services for women who want to breastfeed. 

On 2 August, as part of International Breastfeeding week, we will be having a celebration and ‘The Big latch on’ event at The Courtyard in Hereford between 10am and 1pm.   

Global Big Latch On events take place at registered locations around the world, where people gather together to breastfeed and offer peer support to each other. Their friends, family and community join this celebration to promote and support breastfeeding. Volunteers from within the community host each location.  Hosting a Global Big Latch On event creates a lasting support network for the community.

We will be celebrating that Herefordshire now has over 20 volunteer breastfeeding peer supporters, offering support to mums across all of Herefordshire, with support being available every week day somewhere across the county.

As well as the Big Latch On event, there will be fun activities and information from local groups and services available for mothers and families across Herefordshire.

The Courtyard will be launching its Babes in Arms film screenings following the Big Latch event on Friday 2 August.  Kicking off the programme will be a screening of Yesterday (12A), Danny Boyle’s latest blockbuster, a rock and roll comedy about music, dreams and friendship in which he explores what the world would be like had The Beatles never existed.

The Courtyard’s Babes in Arms screenings aim to offer new parents or child carers the opportunity to get out of the house, socialise and enjoy great films whilst with their baby in a comfortable setting, without having to worry about disturbing others.  Babes in Arms screenings will be programmed monthly and audience members must have a baby (up to 18 months) to attend.

Those attending the Big Latch event will be invited to the first Babes in Arms screening free of charge and encouraged to provide The Courtyard with feedback on what films they might like to see.

Ends

Notes to Editors WVT:

• Wye Valley NHS Trust is a provider of health services across Herefordshire and beyond. The Trust exists to improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve.
• By working closely with our partners, we can make good our promise to deliver a quality of care we would want for ourselves, our families and our friends.
• With an estimated annual turnover of around £185 million, we employ around 3,000 staff. We aim to build new relationships between our staff, patients, service users and their carers with the wider community.

For further information please contact:

Fiona Gurney, communications officer or John Burnett, Communication and Engagement Manager, Wye Valley NHS Trust: 01432 372928