º£½ÇÖ±²¥

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ helping more mums to breastfeed their babies

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is among a select number of universities across the country to receive international recognition for its high levels of breastfeeding education and training provided to health students.

The UNICEF Baby-Friendly Certificate was awarded to º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s School of Health and Social Care for its health visiting programmes. º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is the first university in the North East and the third university nationally to achieve such accreditation. The Baby Friendly University Award was launched in 2008 – the first such award anywhere in the world – in order to ensure high levels of training in breastfeeding are incorporated in midwifery and health visitor training courses. The certificate recognises the high levels of breastfeeding training provided to students at º£½ÇÖ±²¥.

Staff at the University worked with partners at the NHS and health visiting students over a four year period to achieve the prestigious accreditation. They also received baby friendly training from UNICEF.

During the process, Lynette Harland, Senior Lecturer in Community & Childhood Studies and Lead for Health Visiting at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, developed a memory aid for breastfeeding. CHIN – which stands for close, head free, in-line, nose to nipple – is now being used by UNICEF within its training and has been incorporated into a breastfeeding app which has thousands of downloads nationally and internationally.

Lynette said: 'I am delighted that our programme has achieved this accreditation and feel it underlines the emphasis we place on partnership working to achieve quality in our provision and our commitment to ensuring the next generation of health visitors are highly skilled and educated.'

Vicky Head, Infant Feeding Co-ordinator at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, added: 'This is a fabulous outcome for the health visiting services across º£½ÇÖ±²¥ and County Durham. I must commend Lynette for the dedication she has shown throughout the last four years.'

Lynette said the accreditation ensures students have the knowledge and skills to promote breastfeeding and it will enhance the quality of care they provide to service users.

Professor Paul Keane OBE, Dean of º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s School of Health & Social Care, said: 'I have seen first-hand the amount of work that has gone in to securing this prestigious accreditation and am delighted for everybody involved.'

'To receive this international recognition is a proud achievement for º£½ÇÖ±²¥.'

The courses covered by the UNICEF Baby-Friendly Certificate are BSc (Hons) Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting) and the Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting).

Sue Ashmore, Programme Director for the Baby Friendly Initiative, said: 'Surveys show us that most mothers want to breastfeed but don’t always get the support they need. º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is addressing this problem and aiming to ensure more mothers can successfully breastfeed their babies in future.'

---