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Little Angels and Baby Friendly Accreditation

Little Angels is a community business set up by mothers for mothers to offer peer support on breastfeeding.(see article on how we started) Our aim is to promote, support and protect breastfeeding and make breastfeeding fashionable.

We have been very fortunate in that The Royal Blackburn Hospital is a baby friendly hospital and this has helped us in our quest to get our business off the ground.

Initially, we were volunteers and offered our services to the hospital. We ran the daily support group and also one to one support at the bedside. .

UNICEF baby friendly accreditation is a fantastic opportunity for all hospitals and communities to have their support of breastfeeding recognised within the wider community and anyone achieving this should be very proud. Little Angels fits in with baby friendly in that we help to sustain the initiation rates but the biggest impact is in sustaining those rates. To have high initiation rates is fantastic but to be able to support mothers in their long term breastfeeding is essential too. Being involved in an area where the initiation rates are high has a very positive effect upon Little Angels as it gives it a kick start – we almost hit the ground running.

Little Angels is able to see mums ante natally and discuss breastfeeding at a time when mum is relaxed and not worried about baby, breastfeeding problems etc and to discuss any issues that the mother may have and to offer the services of Little Angesl .

Little Angels now sees all mums that leave The Royal Blackburn breastfeeding. Each breastfeeding mum is assigned a Little Angel who will make contact within 72 hours of the mum being discharged from hospital. The mother is more than likely to have already seen a Little Angels worker either whilst in hospital or ante natally. All mums are given information on the role of Little Angels within the community and to expect a phone call and at least one visit. So on leaving hospital all mums are assigned a named advisor who will see her all through her breastfeeding time.

We now also have tracker sheets to be able to record accurate bf rates and information. Partly because our funding is very much target lead, and also the red book records are not accurate, we have teamed up with The Royal Blackburn hospital to devise a tracker sheet. Each mum has it explained what the role of the tracker sheet is and what the information is used for. We then record breastfeeding data at 6 weeks, 17 weeks, 6months, 7-9 months and when solid food was introduced. Also when breastfeeding was stopped and also the reason why.

We will then be able to compare our data to the red books and it will throw up where the red books are not being accurately filled in, thus aiding the health visiting service as well. All our data has been passed by ethics at the hospital.

An advisor will contact a mum, explaining who she is and then arrange to visit. Contact is then maintained as often as the mother needs or at appropriate times –eg potential difficult times – 3 week growth spurts etc. The mother then knows she has a named contact that she can speak to about breastfeeding and offer her any support/ information that she needs. Each of our advisors is linked to a midwifery team and each team knows their supporter. So the advisors all have their own case load of ladies that they look after and see right from ante natal till when the mums stops breastfeeding.

We also receive referrals from health visitors and midwives as well. We run and set up new support groups

The fact that the hospital is baby friendly has helped Little Angels to start and maintain its business. The way that we now link in with the hospital and getting the discharges daily, has really helped how we reach and support women. It is the individual advisor's responsibility to make contact with the mother and make sure she receives the support she needs. This has been made possible by the fact that Little Angels were volunteers and are registered as volunteers for the hospital and therefore we are staff and this overcomes the issue of data protection.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough, provides us with funding is also working towards baby friendly in the community – this is helped with having The Royal Blackburn baby friendly. There has been a view that baby friendly is just a piece of paper and it is the work that makes the difference not the certificate – this had been said in the past . But in reaching baby friendly accreditation it is a way of rewarding and recognising the hard work, commitment and in most cases, the extra work that goes on to achieve baby friendly status that isn't seen by the majority of people. The cost far outweights the benefits to the community and ultimately the health of our present and future generations.

Because we have the support and commitment of the hospital and the fact that the hospital is committed to breastfeeding has helped to empower women accessing the services.

Supporting breastfeeding and increasing the rates is more than statistics and the health of babies and mothers – it is all about handing mothers back their capabilities as confident mothers. Nothing empowers a mother more than knowing that her bouncing 6 month old baby which has doubled in weight since birth, is all her doing – exclusive breastfeeding and the satisfaction from this is empowerment in itself.

The way our government is going at the moment is all about social capital / enterprise – handing health services back to the public – which is where they belong really. You don't need to be medically qualified to support on health issues. It is all about handing health back to the people that matter – the community and in doing so we will see the right people supporting the right services and getting the results. Social enterprise goes back to grass roots – which is what Little Angels has done.

All our staff are local mums from our local area – and therefore have indepth knowledge, not only of breastfeeding but of the issues that are affecting the mothers locally. It is all very well, advising on health issues such as 5 a day etc when at home, the mother may be alcoholic, dad may be out of work – the last thing on their minds is have they had their 5 a day. The same can be applied with breastfeed– we can advise/ support all we like, but if we don't recognise the local issues that may be preventing breastfeeding, it is a non starter. In our area we have a high percentage of ethnic minorities and therefore 20% of our staff are from the same cultural background. This immediately breaks down barriers and crosses cultures.

It is all about handing control back to the community – letting them take a lead on the important health issues. All our staff/ volunteers/ director/ board members are unique and they all bring different flavours to our organisation – bit like breast milk really – no two days are the same! It all adds to the flavour and diversity of our unique working relationship that we have

This community spirit that we have cultivated has lead even to the media – the Evening Telegraph know if it is breastfeeding it must be Little Angels – eg. ringing up for a story. And they are positive. Little Angels has been featured on a Channel 4 documentary on extended breastfeeding and we were also featured in a Channel 4 production.

There is nothing more inspiring than watching a shy, nervous mother sitting quietly in a corner to becoming a strong, confident woman all because of breastfeeding and what it can lead to.

If you want any more details on the impact of Little Angels on the breastfeeding rates and how we have achieved them please contact Michelle on 01254 772929 or 07746 515 903.