UNICEF Baby Friendly Gold Accreditation for our Infant Feeding Teams

Our East Riding and Hull 0-19 Integrated Public Health Nursing Teams have been awarded the highly coveted UNICEF Baby Friendly Gold Award. This is the first year the Hull team have applied for the award, and we are incredibly proud to say that they achieved it first time.

UNICEF UK’s Achieving Sustainability standards are designed to help services to embed Baby Friendly care for the long term. When services are assessed as not only meeting all of the criteria, but demonstrating them being truly embedded within their practice, they can be accredited as a Gold Baby Friendly service. Gold is the highest level of accreditation and celebrates excellent and sustained practice in the support of infant feeding and parent-infant relationships.

The report issued by UNICEF highly praised the work undertaken and delivered by the Infant Feeding Team and the 0-19 Service. It writes, “There is excellent leadership support for the Infant Feeding Team and the Chief Executive of the Trust is the Baby Friendly Guardian who reports Infant Feeding data to the Trust Board. A new guardian has also been appointed for the Family Hubs. Managers training has been well received and there is notable investment and enthusiasm to ensure core Baby Friendly standards are maintained alongside new initiatives to expand and build on support offered to families”.

Hull has been cited as the 4^th most deprived city in England, making this award an even greater achievement. Deprivation can often have a dramatic impact on breastfeeding rates. Despite breastfeeding being the single most cost effective and sustainable way of feeding a baby, unfortunately it is often overlooked by those living in more deprived communities.

Heidi Fewings, 0-19 Service Manager at our Trust, said, “We are delighted to have received the Gold standard. An enormous amount of work goes into this achievement and it recognises the incredible impact our teams are having on local communities.”

Ellie Talbot-Imber, Infant Feeding Lead at our Trust, said, “Our teams have worked immensely hard to impact the culture around breastfeeding in our local area. Initiatives including going into schools and speaking with primary aged children about the benefits of breastfeeding, providing bespoke training to staff in GP surgeries, launching two breastfeeding hubs and the milk trail to promote and normalise breastfeeding in the City are all making a real and tangible difference”.

The Hull 0-19 Integrated Public Health Nursing Service (IPHN) is delivered and lead through the Healthy Child Programme. It offers a comprehensive programme of screening, developmental reviews, information, and guidance to support parenting and healthy choices which enhance a child or young person's life chances.