Press Release 27/7/2017

NHS worker’s crusade to support breastfeeding women worldwide

An NHS Infant Feeding Coordinator and Lactation Consultant has launched a new website to support breastfeeding mothers. Launching to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week, www.thebreastfeedingcompanion.com covers more than 80 topics through 8+ hours of video, covering the common problems that are faced by mothers, day by day.

“Having personally supported over 10,000 breastfeeding women over the last 10+ years, I find I’m dealing with the same problems over and over again” said Jackie Hall, founder of The Breastfeeding Companion. “Breastfeeding is the most natural process in the world, but it isn’t necessarily the easiest process, and it takes time for mother and baby to establish breastfeeding. There are many hurdles, especially in the early days.”

92% of breastfeeding women report problems within the first 3 days, and tackling these early problems will greatly help breastfeeding mothers. Whilst it’s long been recognised that breastfeeding has great health benefits for both mother and baby, in Jan 2016, The Lancet reported that the UK has the worst breastfeeding rates in the world. Jackie hopes that her experience of helping women in her day job for the NHS can be translated to the website.

“I know that struggling mothers want help, comfort and reassurance and ideally a face to face consultation would be best, but it’s not always possible. With NHS resources stretched, and cutbacks occurring across the country, I wanted to bring my knowledge to people without cost being a barrier. There’s a lot of conflicting information about breastfeeding and even when you find a good resource, it can be hard work taking it all in. We’ve presented our work in video format as it seems to be the preferred method for busy breastfeeding mums.”

The Breastfeeding Companion is currently working towards the NHS England Information Standard quality mark, giving assurance to the public that the information produced is clear and accurate.

The Breastfeeding Companion is a free resource and can be found at www.thebreastfeedingcompanion.com

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