The University of Brighton has taken the first steps towards gaining international recognition for how it teaches midwives and health visitors about breastfeeding.
The university's School of Nursing and Midwifery has been awarded a Certificate of Commitment from the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative.
The midwifery team, Eastbourne campus
The certificate acknowledges the university's commitment to having a formal breastfeeding policy and ensuring that everyone involved in the care of mothers and babies are trained in the necessary skills to implement the policy, promoting co-operation between healthcare staff, breastfeeding support groups and the local community to provide a welcoming atmosphere for breastfeeding families.
Jenny Hassall, senior midwifery lecturer, said: "We decided to work with the Baby Friendly Initiative to ensure a high standard of training in breastfeeding for our student midwives and health visitors graduating from this course."
The scheme, set up by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a global programme which provides a practical and effective way for health services to improve the care provided for all mothers and babies. This involves informing all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding, and supporting mothers to initiate and maintain breastfeeding with an appropriately-timed introduction of complementary foods.
Jenny continued: "We know that many women give up breastfeeding before they want to because of difficulties which could have been prevented if skilled help had been on hand. By ensuring that our students are fully trained in how to help a mother breastfeed her child, more women will be able to breastfeed their babies for longer.
"Breastfeeding protects babies against a wide range of serious illnesses including gastroenteritis and respiratory infections in infancy as well as allergies and diabetes in childhood. We also know that breastfeeding reduces the mother's risk of some cancers – although mums might be more interested in hearing that it's easier, cheaper and simply less hassle than bottle feeding."
Sue Ashmore, Baby Friendly Initiative Programme Director, said: "We are delighted that the University of Brighton has received this award. Surveys show us that most mothers want to breastfeed but don't always get the support they need. Working towards full Baby Friendly Accreditation means that University of Brighton is addressing this problem and aiming to ensure more mothers can successfully breastfeed their babies in future."
The Baby Friendly University Award was launched in the UK in 2008 – the first such award anywhere in the world – by Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo, in order to ensure high levels of training in breastfeeding are incorporated into midwifery and health visitor training courses. The Certificate of Commitment recognises that a university is dedicated to implementing recognised best practice standards in breastfeeding training, and is part way along the road to full Baby Friendly Accreditation.
