Rotherham is now officially a breastfeeding friendly borough after the launch of a new campaign to support mums and families to make the right choice for themselves and their babies.
Representatives from Rotherham’s Health and Wellbeing Board, including Rotherham Council, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and other health partners, pledged their support to make Rotherham a breastfeeding friendly borough at a launch event on Wednesday 2nd August.
As well as signing the Supporting a Breastfeeding Friendly Borough Declaration, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust also launched the Rotherham Backs Breastfeeding campaign to promote advice, guidance and support services for new mums and families to ensure they have the information and confidence they need to breastfeed.
Breastfeeding offers so many health benefits for both mum and baby that are currently being missed by families who would like to breastfeed. By becoming a Breastfeeding Friendly Borough, it will help these families to feel confident in their choice and to access the benefits which include protection from infection for baby.
It has been welcomed by mums such as Alisha also welcomed the campaign, saying: “It’s good that it’s happening. I think it’ll help because to bring awareness to it, as we talked about during the whole talk today, it’s not shown enough in our culture. In England, bottle feeding is the norm so just to even have photos around helps it become more normal. It’s one of the most natural things you can do as a mother.
“It’s going to be so helpful for mums to not be afraid, to be empowered, to do it wherever they want and to know what they’re doing is right.”
For further information about the Breastfeeding Friendly Borough, go to www.rotherhamhealthandwellbeing.org.uk.