Thurrock Breasfeeding Supporters was first launched in 1996 in response to low breastfeeding rates and the views expressed by local mothers. It is a ‘sister’ programme to the Community Mothers scheme. Some Community Mothers are Breastfeeding Supporters too.

What a mother needs, a Breastfeeding Supporter will give:

• Lots of friendly encouragement
• Lots of confidential support as ‘one mum to another’
• Lots of useful tips and ideas
• Easy access to other local mothers who are breast-feeding
• Visits at home both before and after baby is born
• Visits at hospital straight after the birth
• Useful suggestions over the phone

A Breastfeeding Supporter:

• Has breastfed her own children
• Lives in the local area
• Has key personal qualities

They are recruited on a voluntary basis and have comprehensive ongoing Training and support provided by an experienced Community Development Nurse and an experienced National Childbirth Trust Breastfeeding Counsellor. Some Breastfeeding Supporters are now employed on the programme.

Local mothers trying to breast-feed complained of social isolation, conflicting information and had little contact with other mothers who had breast-fed. NCT Breastfeeding Counsellors were not reaching many of these mothers. Primary health care professionals were also frustrated about the low number of mothers who were breast-feeding and the strong influence of family and friends to bottle-feed.

A local survey revealed that mothers wanted:

• Someone with TIME to give them the help that they needed
• More discussion about breast-feeding during the antenatal period
• Help with getting the baby latched on properly
• More information about breast-feeding difficulties and how to overcome them
• More contact with other local mothers who are breast-feeding
• More home support.

Breastfeeding Supporters aim to:

• Help mothers to enjoy the experience of breastfeeding
• Increase the number of mothers breastfeeding
• Raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding within the whole community
• Decrease the number of babies admitted to hospital with gastro-enteritis [five times more likely if an infant is bottle-fed]
• Decrease the number of babies admitted to hospital with chest infections [twice as likely if an infant is bottle-fed]
• Encourage early bonding
• Promote community involvement, participation and new employment opportunities

 

 

Breastfeeding Supporters chat with pregnant mothers in GP surgery waiting areas whilst they wait to see the Community Midwife. They share their own positive experiences of breastfeeding and discuss the benefits. Mothers who would like to give breast-feeding a try can request a home visit so that they can get to know their Breastfeeding Supporter before the baby is born and to introduce the programme to the father.

Visits are made to the postnatal ward on a daily basis to offer help and support during those vital early days. Both hospital staff and mothers can ask for urgent help via a 24-hour message pager. Timely support can then be offered to both parents as soon as mum gets home.

Breastfeeding Supporters particularly help with:

• Reassurance and confidence building
• Nipping early difficulties in the bud
• Dispelling some of the common myths
• Assisting mum to position baby well at the breast
• Care of sore nipples
• Overcoming worries about frequent feeding
• How to express and store breast milk

Other activities include talks in local schools, support groups, and quizzes and promotional events in the local community.

A baseline audit was undertaken prior to the introduction of Thurrock Breast Feeding Supporters in 1995 and a re-audit was undertaken in 1999 so as to measure any improvements as a result of introducing the scheme.

Some of the main conclusions and recommendations were as follows:

• Breast feeding rates appeared to have improved since the baseline audit
• There were clear differences in breast feeding outcomes between mothers who had the support of a Breast Feeding Supporter and those who did not, particularly with regard to increased duration of breast feeding
• Mothers who had a Breast Feeding Supporter expressed a high level of satisfaction with the service. They had particularly helped with:

Providing reassurance
Help with positioning baby at the breast [crucial to successful breast-feeding]
Overcoming worries about not having enough breast-milk
How to express breast-milk