Coventry Mums celebrate breastfeeding with ‘The Big Latch On’
Our Visiting Service and the Coventry Infant Feeding Team were proud to support the international ‘Big Latch On’ event to celebrate breastfeeding across the world at on 4 August.
The event, organised by Breastfeeding Peer Support Volunteer, Annemarie Atkins, from the Coventry Infant Feeding Team, saw mums from across Willenhall gather at Middle Ride Children’s Centre to show how proud they are to breastfeed their babies.
Carmen Baskerville, Specialist Health Visitor and Infant Feeding Lead at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, said: "However a mother chooses to feed her baby, she can be sure that she will be supported by us to form a strong, loving relationship with her newborn – through having maximum skin to skin contact and understanding how her baby communicates with her and needs her to respond.”
Carmen added: "Breastfeeding protects babies against a wide range of serious illnesses including gastroenteritis and respiratory infections in infancy, as well as asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life. We also know that breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of some cancers – although mums might be more interested in hearing that it is easier, cheaper and simply less hassle than bottle feeding.”
Annemarie Atkins, who is also an Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM) Breastfeeding Counsellor for ‘Boobie Buddies’, said: “I wanted to get mums together to join in the Big Latch On with others across the world. I have young children of my own and am passionate about promoting breastfeeding. I love my role as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor and peer supporter because I want mums to feel confident to breastfeed anywhere, and having been there I understand their anxieties and worries, especially if they are first time mums.”
For further information about infant feeding or the Coventry Infant Feeding Service contact Carmen Baskerville at carmen.baskerville@covwarkpt.nhs.uk or call her on 07810 156594. Or visit www.coventry.gov.uk/infantfeeding.