We are posting with an update on some changes happening to the Breastfeeding Support provision across Wigan Borough.

Breastfeeding Together have been commissioned by Wigan Council since 2015 to provide a Breastfeeding Peer Support Service, the contract has come to end with the Council and the service we are currently commissioned to provide to families will stop on the 5th August 2020.

Breastfeeding Together are currently in the process of transitioning from being a council funded to a privately funded service once the contract with Wigan Council ends.

Breastfeeding Together will continue their work as a Charity by seeking external funding. Breastfeeding Together continues to be committed to the families of Wigan Borough.

From the 5th August there will be a new offer in place, led by Maternity and Health Visiting Services, to develop an integrated infant feeding offer as part of the Start Well offer to all parents in the borough. The new offer will mean mums and families are given support from Start Well services from the moment they access antenatal care. This includes the new Start Well digital offer that enables families to access information, advice and guidance during pregnancy, the early years and beyond this.

Specific support will continue to be available for mums with breastfeeding. In addition to this, support will be on offer for bottle-feeding and a number of other topics such as sleeping and introducing solid food. Throughout the offer, families will be signposted to helpful apps and resources, including the Baby Buddy app, and the Start Well Digital Offer. Parents of children with a disability will also be able to access support via the SEND Local Offer website.

Families who continue to require specialist infant feeding support will receive support from the Infant Feeding Leads in Maternity and Health Visiting Services, which will include home visits where required.

Our Big Feed was our final event of this years breastfeeding awareness month. This year wasn’t quite the same as previous years, but we weren’t prepared to let social distancing stop us! We asked our mums to join us virtually by sending in brelfies, and join us they did- We had so many we had to make a full 4 collages!!

We’d like to thank everyone who took part and also everyone who liked, commented and shared our posts on social media throughout June as well as those who donated to help us continue our work.

If you’d like to support us by making a regular or one off donation you can find full details here Every penny helps us to continue supporting families across the uk.

Summer is here, albeit temporarily if the great British weather is anything to go by! We’ve prepared a couple of new info graphics to help you understand the changes we sometimes see when the weather does….

If you’ve got a baby who’s already fed what feels like about 600 times already today in the heat, then you are not alone! It’s very common for babies to take shorter more frequent feeds when the weather is hot. Breastmilk adapts to become more thirst quenching and those shorter feeds provide more of the watery milk that meets their need for hydration. This means that breastfed babies don’t need any extra water, they still get everything they need from the breast! As a side effect, we sometimes notice baby’s poos turn a little more green during this time- that’s down to the increase in watery milk, its usually temporary and will revert to type along with the weather.

Babies can be more sensitive to temperature changes than us as they aren’t able to regulate their own temperature very well just yet, and their skin is also quite sensitive. So it’s also important to protect our little one’s from the sun when it’s so strong and it can be tempting to cover the pram with a blanket whilst out and about. Doing this can restrict airflow and increase the inside temperature. Remove any coverings to allow the air to flow freely and use a suitable sunshade or parasol instead.

Today is the start of week 2 of our fabulous Breastfeeding Awareness Month!

Usually this means lots of events, picnics & get togethers. This year will be different but no less special, so enjoy our virtual events, get involved & have some fun!! Just remember to send us your photos so we can see what you’ve been up to…..

As many of you may know, our commissioned service, and therefore our funding, is coming to an end at the beginning of August but we won’t let that be the end of BfT…….we have too much good work left to do!

We want to ensure every mum who needs breastfeeding support gets it. We know babies don’t just breastfeed Monday-Friday, 9-5, so we want to continue be at the end of the phone or only a message away 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

In order to continue to provide this essential service to families we need to keep those funds coming in!! So please consider making a donation to us- it’s as easy as a text and every penny we receive makes a difference 💗

Find more about supporting us and other ways to donate here

We are thrilled to announce that Breastfeeding Together have been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The MBE for volunteer groups, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK 👑

It’s June!!!
And for Team BfT that means only one thing…….
Breastfeeding Awareness Month! 💗

It’s a month for celebration of breastfeeding and the recognition of not only it’s importance, but also the importance of the women who support other women with their choices and help them reach their feeding goals.

Usually this means lots of events, picnics parties and get togethers. This year will be different- but no less special, so keep an eye on our social media for our ‘events’!!

The first week also coincides with Volunteers week so what better way to kick off the month than celebrating our fantastic volunteers.

We have more than 60 volunteers at BfT, who all give their time freely to support mums at our drop-in groups, via live web chat, at antenatal sessions and wherever else they find an opportunity to!!

Covid-19 has changed many things for us, but it’s not changed our volunteers passion and determination to ensure that all mums who need infant feeding support get it! So as ever, they’ve adapted, overcome challenges and continued to provide amazing support for our families.

So join us in saying a big thank you to our amazing volunteers 💗

#volunteersweek2020
#believeinbreastfeeding
#weloveourvolunteers
#peersupport
#womenempoweringwomen

We have some exciting news….

Since lockdown began we have been inundated with you contacting us to see if we are offering our ‘Breastfeeding Peer Support Level 2’ training online!!

Due to high demand we have been working hard behind the scenes and can now confirm we will be offering the training virtually online 😊

In light of the current uncertainty we’re facing due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus):

We’d like to assure all our families that the Breastfeeding Together team are focused on providing you with the best possible service during this time and we will continue to support you. We are here for you- If you need us please get in touch!

We will continue to offer the following services:

• Intensive telephone/text support between 9am & 8pm, 7 days a week
• 1:1 Zoom/Skype/video calling will be offered to replace home visits and are available between 9am and 8pm, 7 days a week.
• All families within the initial 6 week support period will be assigned a named Peer supporter.
• The option of either a 1:1 Zoom/Skype/video or in depth telephone call will be available to all pregnant women, whilst Antenatal Workshops are temporarily suspended.
• Online Antenatal resources have been designed for email to pregnant women and are available by registering on our Antenatal booking website.
• Online Facebook support group is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
• Live Chat will be available between 10am & 1pm in addition to the usual 7-10pm, 7 days a week.
• Our new Breastfeeding Helpline is available to support families between 10am to 10pm everyday, call us on 07742 234496
• Virtual groups are available via Zoom.
• Our office will not be staffed at the present time as our staff have been enabled to facilitate home working, but you can still reach us on 01942 777903.
• Pump hire service remains available.

We would also like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘Thank you’ to all our wonderful staff and volunteers who are working together to ensure families across Wigan Borough continue to receive the Infant Feeding support they need.

 

If you’d like to learn more about the current recomendations and guidelines for Pregnant & Breastfeeding mothers, please find a selection of useful links below:

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-on-covid-19-pregnancy-childbirth-and-breastfeeding

https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/coronavirus/

https://www.facebook.com/breastfeedinguncovered/posts/2487910654803933

https://www.llli.org/coronavirus-resources/

https://www.unicef.org/stories/novel-coronavirus-outbreak-what-parents-should-know

https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/infant-feeding-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/

http://lifib.org.uk/news/formula-info-march-2020/

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30360-3/fulltext