24 November 2011
Hospital’s breast feeding figures are the best ever!
The number of women who are choosing to breastfeed their baby after giving birth at Broomfield Hospital has risen to the highest ever figures.
The Hospital is set two targets by the local Primary Care Trust of having at least 75% of women breastfeeding on their discharge from Hospital and 65% continuing to breastfeed when they are discharged from community midwifery care. The Hospital’s performance against these targets has continued to rise steadily with the best ever performance being recorded in October 2011 with over 77% of women still breastfeeding when they left Hospital and over 68% continuing to do so when they were discharged from the community midwifery team.
Denise Gray, lead midwife for infant feeding at Broomfield Hospital said: “When I took up my new post in November 2009 only 23% of women were breastfeeding when they were discharged from community midwifery care whereas today it is over 68%. This is the result of real teamwork by a number of people and is something that we are very proud of.
“We know the importance of breastfeeding for the baby and the mother so we have put a lot of work into doing everything that we can to encourage new mums to give it a try. We usually find that those mums who choose to breastfeed initially continue at least until they are discharged from hospital. Within the Hospital we are able to offer them help and support, but sometimes when they go home it is harder for them to access this support, so the numbers tend to decrease. Recently we have introduced additional support, such as breastfeeding drop-in clinics that can be accessed in the community, so we are really pleased that this is helping to encourage women.”
A number of initiatives have been introduced to encourage women to breastfeed their baby. These include better antenatal education about breastfeeding, community drop-in sessions for women with access to healthcare professionals who can provide advice and support. All midwives have additional breastfeeding training to provide support to the women.
Denise adds: “At the Hospital we try to do everything that we can to support the new mums with their breastfeeding. Our midwifery team are particularly committed to providing help and support. Our drop in clinics have also proved very successful with the number of women who attend increasing. In January 2012 we will be starting a course in conjunction with the National Childbirth Trust to train some new peer supporters who are specially trained to support women who are breastfeeding whilst they are in Hospital. They also provide support at breast feeding groups.”
ENDS
Media contacts : Jo Triggs tel: (01245) 514235 | Mobile : 0790 005 4948
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