Families who have been helped by Halton’s Infant Feeding Clinic got together at a celebration event recently (Friday 30 June) at Kingsway Children’s Centre. The event marked the clinic’s first six months which also coincided with UNICEF’s National Breastfeeding Celebration Week.

Halton’s Infant Feeding Clinic was launched last December by Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Bridgewater) to help local mothers with specialist advice and practical support to resolve any feeding issues they are having with their babies. The clinics are hosted by Halton Borough Council’s Children’s Centres.

This clinic runs alongside Halton’s Health Improvement Infant Feeding Team which offers home visits, telephone support, groups and workshops to all new mums

Since its launch in December 2016, the service has supported over 22 local families and has a 100% patient satisfaction rate.

Carole Brazier, Infant Feeding Co-ordinator for Bridgewater said:“We are pleased to hold this event and hear from local mums about their experiences of using the Infant Feeding Clinic.

“The service is striving to continually improve and one of the aims of the event has been to hear from mums who have used our service about what we are doing well and what more we can do to help them.

“We have also held a play session for the mums and babies at the event and hosted a useful talk from a local retailer about the importance of wearing a correctly fitted nursing bra.”

Katy, a 29 year old new mum from Widnes said: “It has been a great event today. I have enjoyed meeting other mums who breastfeed and learning about their experiences. I would recommend to anyone who is struggling with breastfeeding to ask for a referral to the team through their midwife or health visitor.”

Cllr Marie Wright, Executive Board Member for Health and Wellbeing said: “We are committed to working with the Infant Feeding Clinic so we can support mums that need that little bit of extra help and guidance with breastfeeding and bottle feeding. Our Children’s Centres in Halton host the clinic and offer a welcoming and friendly environment for families.”

To find out more about the Infant Feeding Clinic please visit http://www.bridgewater.nhs.uk/warrington/breastandinfantfeeding/

Or for Infant feeding team contact hit@halton.gov.uk or 0300 029 0029

Picture 1 – Families at the Infant Feeding Clinic Celebration Event
Picture 2 – Mum Katy and baby son Joel at the Infant Feeding Clinic Celebration Event