News In this issue - Baby Café
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SPRING 2019
News
In this issue
‘How Baby Café helped me’ -
mums tell their stories - pg 4
Protective factors for
breastfeeding - final analysis
by Cheyenne Wagi - pg 5
Q&A - Focus on funding for 2
North East Baby Cafés - pg 7
N AT I O N A L B R E A S T F E E D I N G I N F O R M AT I O N A N D S U P P O RT
Fab funding for Frome
Dear all...
Frome Baby Café have been successful in
raising the funds to keep them going for
another year. The money has come from a
I hope that everyone had a lovely variety of sources, including a private
Christmas, and hopefully enjoyed some donation from a charitable trust, a grant
time off. from their town council, and donations via
Just Giving. But they also raised the last
As you know, Trina Warman has sadly left £1000 from an auction.
her role as Baby Café Co-ordinator. She
is still involved with her local Baby Café Said Katherine Woodbury, Facilitator of Frome
in Peterborough, and will still be an NCT Baby Café, “The auction was a huge success and
Breastfeeding Counsellor, but we will greatly we are really pleased with how it went. As well as
miss her here at Baby Café Head Office, and raising a large amount of money it also engaged
wish her all the best in her future travels. the community. We received some fantastic
donations from local businesses, many of them run
As I write this, I am sure that you are all
by mums. It was a lot of work for the volunteers
knee deep in the annual evaluation forms.
who organised it all but it could be done from
The evaluation is so important in helping
home and was mainly chasing people up via email
us to monitor and provide evidence of the
and on Facebook. The auction days were very
fantastic work that you all do throughout
exciting and we were all watching the bids come
the year. Please do get in touch if you need
in. It really exceeded all our expectations and we
any support with the forms.
will definitely consider doing it again in the future!”
Soon it will be the new financial year for
many of our Baby Cafés, and we appreciate
the efforts that many of you have to make
to keep your Baby Cafés going each year. If
any of our Baby Cafés are struggling with
funding, please take a look at the Frome
piece on this page, and the Q and A on page
7 for funding ideas from the North East.
May I send you many best wishes for the
New Year. And if you are organising an
event for Breastfeeding week, please do send
us some photos so we can feature you in a
forthcoming issue.
Ali - Baby Café Co-ordinator
In this edition...
Everybody’s talking about it - page 3
news from the Baby Cafés
Baby Café helped me! page 4
Special feature: Protective factors page 5
for breastfeeding
In the news: snips and clips and a page 6
book review
Q&A: Funding for 2 new Baby Cafés page 7
Where to find out more page 8
page 2
ody’s
Everyb
Baby friendly conferen
t it...
ce
a b o u
talking
NCT and Baby Café
staff, Breastfeeding
Counsellors and pe
er supporters enjo
busy two days at th yed a
e Annual UNICEF
Friendly Conferen Baby
ce last November.
NCT’s Partnerships an
d Commissioned Serv
teams were very busy ices
on our stand, with lot
people coming to find s of
out more about NCT’s
breastfeeding support
services - including Ba
Birthdays! Café and breastfeedin by
g peer support. With
900 people attending, ov er
Happy first birthdays to our newbies Frome this conference is a ke
opportunity to conne y
ct with health professi
Baby Café, and also Cheyne Baby Café and and service leads from onals
Clare Gardens Baby Café who are both part of health and communit
services across the UK y
our Central London cluster. Happy 5th .
birthdays to Townhill Park and Harefield Baby The conference was pa
Café and The Ashby Centre Baby Café who are cked full of content. Yo
access the presentation u can
slides, with links to as
both in Southampton, and Lampton Road, The
recordings and blogs, sociated
via the Baby Friendly
Hub and Alf Kings who are all in Hounslow. website: www.unicef.o UK
And finally, Sidcup Baby Café is turning rg.uk/babyfriendly/
trainingconferences/ann
the grand old age of 10 – many ual-conference/.
congratulations to you all!
Possilpark pops up!
fé at
fé ran a pop-up Ca
Possilpark Baby Ca l la st ye ar.
nal Festiva
the 2nd Glasgow Ca
organising by the peer
It involved lots of extra Volunteer victory
on manager and the
coordinator, commissi t Helen
ckell, beforehand, bu
Facilitator, Helen Ro ilies Congratulations to Emily Whittaker who
ssful. We had ma fam
ny
said ”It was really succe Th ey won Volunteer of the Year for her dedication
anging and a chat.”
drop by for feeding, ch a chill to both Penge & Beckenham Baby Cafés over
more festivals to offer
now want to do many . a 10 month period.
the Glasgow Baby Cafés
out zone and promote
Emily is pictured being presented with her award
by the Mayor of Bromley at the Bromley Healthcare
Charity Awards Dinner 2018.
...events and happenings in
Baby Cafés around the country
page 3
Baby Café helped me!
ent
Baby Café offers friendship, a listening ear plus encouragem
Real life stories
strugg ling with
and support. This can be important for mums
ley
confidence and worries. In this issue we hear from Bever
and Yasmine who share their stories.
Beverley’s story I persevered, however, despite
little support in the hospital,
“My story is one tinged with sadness but ends but could so easily have given
happily. up in the first few weeks.
I sadly lost my mother in June 2016 just 2 days after
I heard about Baby Café through
my 2nd wedding anniversary. When she died we
my health visitor/midwife on
decided to do something positive with the money she
being discharged from hospital,
left us, and having been unable to conceive a child
and we took her along when she
naturally, decided on IVF. At 46 I was deemed too old
was only a week old, and the support I got from Trish and
for the procedure on the NHS, so we decided to use the
Karen, was fabulous. They quickly referred us for the
funds to try privately.
tongue-tie procedure, and helped me to latch her on, and
r my progress after the
It was the best gift my mum could possibly give to me, continued to help and monito
proced ure didn’t work unfortunately,
IVF worked on the first attempt, and one year after our procedure. The first
first visit to the private clinic in Wimbledon, our but again, they could not have been more helpful, and they
daughter, Emilia, was born. helped us get another appointment. By the time Emilia was
two months old, all was well, and she was gaining weight,
She was a healthy little girl, but had a tongue -tie, so and feeding normally.
feeding was problematic for both of us, it was painful
for me, and forming a good latch was not easy. It Sadly, I lost my father last summer, but I am grateful that
aughter, the wonderful gift
obviously caused me a lot of stress, especially with the he was able to meet his grandd
pressure from professionals to feed naturally. from my mum, before he died.”
Yasmine’s story
A message from Yasmine Lewis about her experience at
Tunbridge Wells Baby Café:
“I first visited Baby Café Tunbridge Wells for advice when my
daughter was one week old. I was having trouble feeding from
my left breast, to the point where I was avoiding feeding off that
side, and really needed to get her latch and positioning sorted.
Laura sat with me and showed me how to feed in the “laid back”
position and to my delight my baby began feeding without
causing me any pain. Laura’s patience and detailed discussion
with me about positioning and latch gave me confidence to
continue breastfeeding, as well as the knowledge that there was
support and guidance available through Baby Café when I
needed it. Since that first visit I have visited Baby Café
numerous times for advice on mastitis, hourly night feeding,
cluster feeding and weaning whilst breastfeeding. With the
support I have had from Jenny and Laura at Baby Café I am
still (happily!) breastfeeding my 10 month old.”
page 4
Special Feature
baby. Further, it is even more helpful if these
friends and family members have breastfed, so they
may provide information about their experiences,
empathy for struggling mums, and advice. One
mum explained how helpful her family has been to
her, saying, “My mother-in-law breastfed her sons.
She has been really supportive and I knew she
would be there to support me if I needed it. She is
really easy to talk to.”
4) The fourth is having positive clinical experiences.
It is important that doctors, midwives, and lactation
consultants are kind and patient advocates for
breastfeeding. One mum explained how beneficial
her clinical support had been, saying “There were
some breastfeeding support people in hospital and
they were amazing. They gave me confidence, they
helped me understand how to hold my baby and
what a good latch looks like and feels like.”
5) The fifth protective factor is formal breastfeeding
support. A mum who has access to formal support is
able to not only receive technical advice to help her
Protective factors navigate breastfeeding difficulties but also form social
networks with other mums. Praise for Baby Café was
for breastfeeding abounding. One mum said, “Baby Café really was my
lifeline,” another stated, “You do need a lot of support I
think, and it’s Baby Cafés like this that are absolutely
Final analysis findings by crucial.” Another mum explained, “I can genuinely say
if it wasn’t for the Baby Café, I would definitely be just
Cheyenne Wagi exclusively bottle feeding, no question.”
Armed with knowledge and a supportive social
As you know Cheyenne Wagi conducted network of partners, friends, family, and formal
research with Baby Café last summer. After support in the community, a mum is more likely to
chatting with mums, their partners, and Baby be confident in her ability to breastfeed. Most of the
Café Facilitators about what helps mums above factors are outside of a mum’s control. This
meet their breastfeeding goals, she has means that the success of breastfeeding is dependent
discovered five central factors that are helpful on the entire community working together to support
to sustaining breastfeeding: mums. A positive breastfeeding experience does not
have to be perfect. Mums may still experience
1) The first is a mum having knowledge about the difficulties and doubts, but having a supportive
benefits of breastfeeding and a determination to environment is essential to ensuring they are able
succeed. With this, a mum is more likely to overcome to meet their breastfeeding goals.
difficulties and continue to breastfeed by becoming
an advocate for her own breastfeeding desires.
2) The second is the presence of partner support.
Partners who are supportive help around the house
and with baby, making it easier for the mum to
focus on breastfeeding. They are advocates for
breastfeeding and provide emotional support for the Cheyenne says “I would
mum during any difficulties she may experience. again like to
thank Baby Café and N
One mum explained that her partner was essential CT for allowing
to her ability to breastfeed and said, “He’s always me to conduct this rese
arch and for
been supportive and without him, I wouldn’t have allowing me these oppo
rtunities to share
been able to do it.” my findings.” And all of
us at Baby Café
3) The third is having the support of family and thank you too, Cheyen
ne!
friends. This ensures a positive environment where
a mum can stay socially connected while breastfeeding
and not feel she has to hide away while feeding her
page 5
In the n
ews...
f o r m a t io n note
New in r ld H e alth
from th e W o
a t io n ( W H O)
Organ is
d
n note
a new info
rmatio Opiates and breastfeeding
WHO has p
u b li sh e feguarding
im p o rtance of sa
highlightin
g th e ropriate New guidance has been published on opiates
n d e n d in g the inapp
ing a f breastmil
k and breastfeeding by Wendy Jones:
breastfeed is tribution o
g a n d d . https://bit.ly/2VE8e2I
marketin n up to 3 y
ears
b st it u te s of childre
su
y/2QUSEjI
https://bit.l
Why the politics of breastfeeding matter
by Gabrielle Palmer. Book review by Karen Hall - NCT
This small book in the Why complete undermining and misunderstanding of normal
It Matters series from Pinter breastfeeding, to the point at which breastfeeding
& Martin is a distillation of failure is now framed as a “flaw of women’s bodies”
Palmer’s earlier, bigger (p45); meanwhile historical practices at the time of
book with a similar title: a birth, and social pressures to parent in certain ways,
good starting point from sabotage the breastfeeding relationship and contribute
which to explore this huge to this vicious circle of ignorance.
and frankly upsetting subject.
Palmer explains why the ongoing Nestlé boycott matters,
Palmer begins with the well-established health case for why the WHO developed the International Code for the
supporting and protecting breastfeeding: more than Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981, and how the
2,000 baby deaths per day worldwide, as a broad milk manufacturers created unnecessary products like
headline; and many far-reaching consequences that follow-on milk in order to exploit its loopholes. One
affect families every day, in the developed world and unanticipated side effect of this was to present breastmilk
beyond. The history of commercial baby milk substitutes purely as a food product, erasing the importance of the
going back over 100 years is clearly explained, showing breastmilk relationship, and making it harder for society
how the creation of a market, rather than the health to value this fundamental aspect of motherhood.
and wellbeing of infants, has always been the industry’s
main motivator. The book explores the ethics of testing The huge implications of all of this for global issues
the product on the market – also known as giving like poverty and climate change are introduced
untested formula milk to babies; as well as the growth towards the end, leaving the reader potentially feeling
of the close relationship between health professionals angry and cheated by big business; and hopefully
and manufacturers. This relationship has led to the ready to fight for change.
Clips ankd s
nips about
Faceboo babies,
breastfeed
ing and mo
re...
page 6
A . . .
Q&
Last year, Allison Thambyrajah, an NCT
Breastfeeding Counsellor in the North East
of England, was successful in gaining
funding to set up 2 Baby Cafés. In this issue,
we ask Allison the secrets of her success.
Q - First of all many congratulations on setting
up your 2 new Baby Cafés in Middlesbrough and
Q - What have been your high points in your
Stockton. When looking at the need for
f irst year?
breastfeeding support in your area, what drew
A - A high point was definitely the launch of the
you to the Baby Café model? Middlesbrough Baby Café at the end of April
A - My local area had been subject to huge 2018. It was great to see the enthusiasm of
budget cuts to breastfeeding support and peer everyone at the launch and the Director of Public
support programmes, and the need for support Health gave a really lovely opening speech about
was clear. At an NCT study day in 2016 I his commitment to breastfeeding support in the
chatted to Trina Warman about Baby Café, and area and how excited he was about the launch of
when I went on the website, I really liked the Baby Café. When doing the mid-point evaluation
Baby Café model and its Quality Standards. for Middlesbrough we found that we have nearly
reached the target of families supported in the
Q Once you had identif ied that you wanted to
- first year in the first 6 months!
set up a Baby Café, how did you go about
obtaining funding?
Other high points were the launch of Stockton
Baby Café at the end of September 2018, and
A - I got the backing of my NCT Branch and taking part in the Big Latch On, when we bought
went through NCT to get funding support. each mum a pamper gift and there was a real
I then contacted the Planning and Partnership buzz in the room – you could tell everyone felt
Manager for Stockton Borough Council and the really proud.
local Children’s Centre Manager outlining the
clear need for local access to regular infant feeding Q Did you encounter any obstacles along the
-
support and enquired about access to funding way that other Cafés could learn from?
and available venues. A meeting was set up in
A - Filling in the grant applications was a huge
May 2017 between myself, Stockton Borough
obstacle, as it is not something I am familiar with
Council, the Early Years Children Centre Manager
doing. I read up on both Council’s Joint Health
and the Clinical Lead for Women and Children’s
and Wellbeing Strategies and with a bit of support
Health NHS Trust.
filled in the applications as best I could.
Following a successful meeting I completed their
Another obstacle is contacts – in order to make
application form to apply for Public Health’s non-
enquiries you need to know who to contact and
recurrent funding.
who can help. Fortunately, various members of
Q - What made you decide to set up 2 Baby Cafés? the Teesside NCT Branch had connections with
the local Council and were able to put me in
A - This happened purely by chance! Whilst touch with the right people.
discussions were taking place with Stockton
Borough Council, the Teesside NCT Branch were
approached by Middlesbrough Council who were Q - I’m sure you’re pretty busy keeping 2 Baby Cafés
running, but do you have any plans for the future?
opening a new flagship building called the Live
Well Centre, aimed at improving the health and A - After the 6 month mid-point evaluation
quality of life for the residents of Middlesbrough. for both Baby Cafés I will be meeting with the
relevant Council to hopefully secure future
I met with the Middlesbrough Public Health
funding to keep them open, otherwise we will
team in May 2017, and they felt that Baby Café
be looking at other funding opportunities and
perfectly suited the ethos and vision of the Live
venues to keep them going.
Well Centre. Once again it was recommended
that we apply for their Public Health non-
recurrent funding.
page 7
Becoming a parent
is life changing
Why not train with us and join
our team of antenatal teachers,
breastfeeding counsellors and
postnatal practitioners.
des2188
Applications are now open for September 2019.
www.nct.org.uk/training
Breastfeeding o
n the web
Our ‘where to
f ind out more’
favourites:
visitors,
kellymom.com Baby Café News is the magazine for
Baby Café.
Great for finding answ trainers and facilitators linked with the
ers to common ques The Baby Café is a netw ork of breas tfeed ing
nct.org.uk tions about breastfee
ding drop-in support groups. They aim to
offer help
in their
Go to the ‘parenting and support to mothers at any stage
’ tab and select ‘feeding the age of the
’ for a wide range of breastfeeding journey, regardless of
thebabycafe.org helpful articles ome too.
baby or child. Pregnant women are welc
Our site for all thing attend - lots
s Baby Café! You don’t need to have a problem to
in a
breastfeedinginc.c of mums come because they enjoy being
a en chatting
group with other breastfeeding wom
The website of Cana about their experiences. There are Baby
Cafés
and links dia n breastfeeding expe world. For
rt Dr Jack Newman. across the UK and other parts of the
Useful videos
isisonline.org.uk more information see thebabycafe.org
Infant Sleep Informatio per year
n The newsletter is published three times
on all aspects of baby Source - with up-to-date, evidence-based
and toddler sleep information by NCT.
News.
We welcome contributions to Baby Café
Ring ring… Bre
astfeeding help
line numbers Editor: Ali Macleod
NCT Support Line 03
00 330 0700 Graphic design: NCT Design Team
National Breastfeedin
g Helpline 0300 100 , Brunel House,
Breastfeeding Networ 0212 Baby Café News is published by NCT
k Supporterline 0300 11 The Promenad e, Brist ol BS8 4AG . NCT Baby
Drugs in Breastmilk 100 0210 nal Childbirth
Helpline 0844 412 46 Café is a trading name of The Natio
La Leche League Helpl 65 Trust Limited company registered in
England and
ine 0845 120 2918 Wales: 2370573 Registered address:
30 Euston
1 2FB.
Square, Stephenson Way, London, NW
s: 801395
Registered charity in England and Wale
DES2044
and Scotland: SC04 1592
You can also read
