Better Health has launched their Start for life campaign. This includes daily themes and activities showing how families, community, health and education services all have a part to play in supporting mothers to have the feeding experience they hoped for.
To take a look at their website and get NHS-approved advice whenever you need it, to help answer all your breastfeeding questions please take a look at the link below.
Better Health – Breastfeeding Website
Breastfeeding provides all the nutrition a baby needs for the first six months and also helps build a strong emotional bond between a mum and her baby. Breast milk also helps boost a baby’s ability to fight illness and infection by passing on the mother’s immune defences. Babies who are not breastfed are more likely to get diarrhoea and respiratory infections. It is not uncommon for mums to experience challenges with breastfeeding and these problems can often be unanticipated, meaning that when they occur mums can tend to give up and instead switch to formula feeding.
Breastfeeding rates suggest that just 44% of mothers are still breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks. Breastfeeding is something that a mother and her baby learn together, and getting the right support can help enable mums to breastfeed for longer.
The information provided by all the Start for Life services is NHS-approved and both services are independent of Amazon and Facebook.
We know that what happens during the first few years of life (starting in the womb) has lifelong effects on many aspects of health and wellbeing – from obesity, heart disease and mental wellbeing, to educational achievement and economic status. We also know that parental behaviours impact heavily on their child’s behaviours. Parents’ health can act as an enabler or barrier to nurturing their children’s development.
Start for Life Information Service for Parents is a universal offering, for all parents-to-be and parents of children up to four and a half years old. The service provides regular emails to the audience as their child reaches key milestones.
Start for Life has a particular focus on those from less socioeconomically privileged backgrounds, as they know that they are much less likely to be searching for and accessing reliable information on pregnancy and parenting. Healthcare professionals are also a target audience as they are a key channel for driving people to Start for Life services.
You may also be interested to see their suite of Introducing Solid Foods resources and campaign support we offer.
Please take a look at the leaflets below for information on breastfeeding and bottle feeding.
As well as providing helpful information and support for breastfeeding, Better Health Start for Life also encourages healthy complementary feeding through their Introducing Solid Foods campaign. For more information regarding this campaign please follow the link below.
Better Start To Life - Introducing Solid Foods
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The best start for you and your baby.
Breastfeeding is great for both you and your baby; it helps build a strong bond and is good for your baby's overall health.
Breast milk provides all the nutrition your baby needs in their first 6 months and boosts their ability to fight illness and infection. Babies who aren't breastfed are more likely to get diarrhoea and chest infections.
But, as with anything new, it's something you need to learn how to do and it's normal to experience the odd set back. Luckily, Start for Life is here to help.
Breastfeeding support, 24/7
If you've got questions about breastfeeding, there are lots of ways Start for Life can help:
- Try the Breastfeeding Friend from Start for Life available on Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Assistant, or on Facebook Messenger
- National Breastfeeding Helpline 0300 100 0212 available 9:30am to 9:30pm 365 days a year. All support is provided by highly trained volunteer peer supporters'
- Visit the Start for Life website for helpful information. You can also sign up to receive weekly emails and videos with advice about pregnancy, birth and parenthood
- Ask your midwife or health visitor for a copy of the 'Off to the Best Start' leaflet
For breastfeeding support search Start for Life