East Riding’s Integrated Infant Feeding Service has been awarded the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Gold Accreditation for the sixth year in a row.
East Riding holds the accolade of being the first Early Help service and first integrated service in the country to achieve the award, which recognises excellent practice in the support of infant feeding and parent-infant relationships.
Councillor Victoria Aitken, cabinet member for children, families and education said: “In East Riding we want to ensure all our families are able to access support with their parent-infant relationships and infant feeding.
“I am delighted that the UNICEF award highlights that our Infant Feeding Service delivers high quality baby friendly care for families.”
UNICEF praised the service for its excellent data coverage to monitor breastfeeding trends, highlighted the success of the innovative Black Breastfeeding Webinar, the implementation of digital screens in Early Years settings and libraries to publicise the work, the success of Breastfeeding in Public Day in February, and the ongoing promotion of the ‘Is it Normal?’ campaign.
UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative concluded their report, saying: “Congratulations to all involved for the continuing increases in breastfeeding, and notably, that 36% of East Riding babies continue to be breastfed at six months old.”
The Integrated Infant Feeding Service is a partnership between East Riding of Yorkshire Council Family Help Service and Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust ISPHNS 0-19 health visiting service.
To find out more about infant feeding support in the East Riding go to: eryc.link/breastfeeding-support
