Parents’ guide to the joint hospital and community Infant Feeding Policy

This is a summary version of what the policy says Barnsley Hospital services and Barnsley Council services will do at different stages to support infant feeding.

Please ask your Midwife or a member of the 0-19 Public Health Nursing Service (PHNS) if you would like to see the full policy.

We support all parents or carers to develop close and loving relationships with their babies through their chosen method of feeding, throughout your feeding journey, with a ‘hands off’ approach.

We will encourage you to keep your baby close (day and night). Breast/chest-feeding makes a big contribution to good physical and emotional health, for your baby and you. Therefore, we will encourage and support you to breast/chest-feed your baby for as long as you wish.

We aim to give information to all parents and carers in a way they can understand, that is family-centred and non-judgemental. All staff are trained to UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards.

All families will given information on how to access Healthy Start and vitamins supplementation up to 4 years of age.

Ways we will help you to feed your baby successfully

During pregnancy

Opportunity to have a meaningful discussion with your Midwife about preparing for birth and early days with your baby.

Offer a 1-1 or group discussion on Infant Feeding by trained staff.

Help you understand the standard of care to expect from Maternity, 0-19 PHNS and Family Centres, and where to find information and support.

Provide information about hand expressing and harvesting human milk.

At birth

Where possible, babies will have the first feed in the first hour by mother/birth parent in skin-to-skin contact, regardless of feeding choice.

Aim to keep your baby close to you throughout your hospital stay.

Support mothers/birth parents with babies who require transfer to a neonatal unit to start expressing milk effectively within 2 hours.

Support your preferred feeding choice, relevant to your needs.

Give information about safer sleep and managing night feeds.

Early days

Support with positioning and attachment, hand expression and safe storage of milk, and understanding signs of effective breast/chest-feeding.

Give formula feeding parents information on how to make feeds safely, use of first milks for the first 12 months and paced feeding by main caregiver.

Encourage responsive feeding by responding to both baby’s feeding cues and breast/chest-feeding mothers’ / birth parents’ desire to feed baby.

Advise you where to access infant feeding support, anytime.

Contact breast/chest-feeding mothers/birth parents by phone within 48-72hrs of leaving hospital (or of a home birth) to support feeding.

Later weeks

Give information to help you breast/chest-feed in front of others, supported by our Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme.

Recommend exclusive breast/chest-feeding for at least the first 12 months and support with weaning at (and not before) 6 months.

Support you to maximise human milk for as long as you wish, including your return to work.