Breastfeeding meets a whole range of baby’s needs, not just hunger. When caregivers respond consistently and positively to babies’ needs, they feel safe and secure, which keeps stress levels low and provides an ideal environment for brain development. The closeness and interactivity of the breastfeeding relationship creates time and space for parents to learn to recognise how babies communicate those needs. It lets baby decide how much milk they want to drink and when, keeping their inbuilt appetite control in charge. When babies are fed by bottle, there are many more barriers that can get in the way of learning to identify and respond to baby’s needs – society’s expectations push parents towards feeding set amounts at set times, sharing feeding with other family members or friends, and spending less time in contact with their babies themselves.

There is extensive and resounding evidence that breastfeeding saves lives – over 800,000 child deaths and 20,000 breast cancer deaths could be prevented with near-universal breastfeeding. Breastfeeding improves health and cuts costs in every country worldwide, rich and poor alike, and much of this is due to the nature of breastmilk itself. Its composition is unique to each mother and baby, changing with their stage of development and the family environment. It actively supports the developing immune system as well as physical growth and development. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended by the World Health Organisation for babies until six months, continuing alongside other foods for two years and beyond, but in the UK as many as 8 out of 10 mothers stop breastfeeding before they want to. 

For staff across Bright Start, being Baby Friendly means providing sensitive and effective care so that parents can make informed choices about feeding, get breastfeeding off to a good start and overcome any challenges or barriers. When parents are bottle feeding, it means supporting them to do so responsively, keeping their babies in control of when and how much they drink, and taking full advantage of the opportunities feeding can give parents to interact with and get to know their babies. It also means providing parents who are giving any formula with unbiased, factual information on choosing milks and making up feeds safely, and working against the influence of formula industry marketing, which is designed to sell products and can be misleading. 

UNICEF complete regular assessments to explore the lived experiences of parents, staff understanding, and the services, training and processes that are in place to maintain Baby Friendly standards - the next assessment will take place at the end of 2022. All staff across health visiting and children’s centre services are expected to understand the health and relationship-building importance of breastfeeding, to work within Islington’s Infant Feeding Policy, to know when and how to signpost parents to feeding support services and/or information, not to accept advertising, information or resources from baby milk companies, and to know why this is important. Those who provide direct support to families need to feel confident in talking to parents about close and loving relationships, responsive breast and bottle feeding, choosing and using formula milk, and how and when to introduce solid foods.

At the heart of being Baby Friendly is responsiveness – recognising and responding to babies’ needs and consistently meeting them in the ways that we want them to be able to do for themselves as adults, whatever that looks like within their family, their culture and their community. And just as babies’ learning starts with what they observe and experience, the simplest way to support parents to do this is to model it in the way we work with them – listening to and acknowledging their feelings and needs, and building on the knowledge and understanding they already have.

National Breastfeeding Week (27 June to 3 July) is an opportunity to demonstrate this approach, and to encourage our communities to embrace it too so that more of our mothers feel supported to reach their own breastfeeding goals. The theme is 'Everyone has a part to play in helping mums to breastfeed', recognising the difference that can be made if everyone supports breastfeeding, including partners, the wider family, community, education and workplaces, as well as health and other public services. We’re asking people across our communities, businesses and organisations to pledge their support to breastfeeding families. Using mums’ real-life examples as inspiration, we’re inviting everyone to look for little ways they can make a big difference in the day-to-day lives of the breastfeeding women and children they come across – as one mum said, something as simple as “Hearing someone say 'You're doing a fab job there' is always such a boost”! You can pledge your support here.