Families from Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven are being invited to help ‘make breastfeeding everyone’s business’ by celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, 1-7 August, at an event in Centenary Square on Tuesday 2 August.
The event has been organised by the Breastfeeding service at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust and will run from 10.30am-2.30pm featuring information stalls, some free cupcakes provided by Cake’ole and a ‘Big Feed’ starting at 12.30 pm.
People who attend will be able to chat to Breastfeeding Service experts, Breastfeed Together volunteers, as well as other local services such as midwives from Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust and the Bradford Doulas, who offer support on pregnancy, birth and feeding, and caring for a new baby. They will be able to get lots of information and guidance on feeding little ones, as well as meet other new parents on the same journey.
At 12.30 pm the Breastfeeding Service will start a ‘Big Feed’ event, with as many mums breastfeeding at the same time as possible. The aim of the event is to normalise breastfeeding in public and make breastfeeding everyone’s business, so that mums and babies feel comfortable and supported to be able to feed whenever and wherever they need.
The new parent-to-parent breastfeeding peer support service called Breastfeed Together will also be holding their own ‘Peers in the Park’ events to mark the week. The first of these events will be on Monday 1 August 11.00am-12.00pm in Cliffe Castle, Keighley, and the second on Wednesday 3 August 11.00am-12.00pm in Lister Park, Bradford.
Parents are encouraged to come along to meet other parents and get support with feeding their new baby.
Jane Dickens, Strategic Breastfeeding Lead at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, said:
We know what a great impact breastfeeding has on both mum and baby, supporting their relationship and building the baby’s immune system. That is why as a district, we are making breastfeeding everyone’s business with events like these, and raising awareness of the importance of supporting all new mums and parents.
Our service is extending a warm invitation to all new parents, whether you’re breastfeeding, bottle feeding or a mix of both, to come along to one of our events next week and say hello. Bring a picnic blanket, make yourself comfortable and chat to professionals who will be on-hand to offer advice. It will be a really lovely chance for new mums to connect with each other too.
We’re proud of how far we’ve come in making Bradford a breastfeeding-friendly place, but we need to go further. Breastfeeding isn’t always easy and I encourage mums to access all the support on offer, and I hope we see lots of new parents celebrating World Breastfeeding Week with us next week!
You can find out more about infant feeding services, including the peer support group Breastfeed Together by searching ‘feeding’ on the Better Lives, Health Futures website: https://www.betterliveshealthyfuturesbw.nhs.uk/.