New parents assured community breastfeeding support groups will continue amidst fears of closure
In a statement, South Gloucestershire Council said:
"Promoting and supporting breastfeeding is a public health priority and South Gloucestershire Council is committed to providing a community-based breastfeeding support service to help protect the health of both mothers and babies in our communities. The council will be re commissioning the service from 31 March 2023 when its current provider’s contract ends.
"Barnardo’s was successfully awarded a contract to provide support services through a competitive re-procurement process from October 2015 and under contract rules, this was extended to March 2023. As the contract is ending, notice has been served as per legal requirements. The council acknowledges all the successes and good work that Barnardo’s has done in delivering the breastfeeding support service.
"Negotiations to agree a provider for this service are currently underway and further details will be shared when available.
"This will mean open access and free support for breastfeeding will continue for South Gloucestershire residents."
In response to the concerns, our Chief Officer Vicky Marriott said:
"We are glad to see this important service is being continued. Communities in South Gloucestershire gain massively from the support these groups provide, and there are well-known long-term health benefits for children. We know from our own research in 2021-22 that lockdowns and the redeployment of staff from the health visiting service and other connected services massively affected people from vulnerable groups, especially if they had mental health challenges or limited financial resources.
"We mustn't just focus on crises and short term solutions. The community-based peer support lifelines, such as these breastfeeding support groups, should be part of a wider network to help people have better health from birth and support all mothers and birthing people to make sure no-one is left behind."
In 2022, our research into the impact of the COVID-19 on the health visiting service and new parents recommended that local services carefully consider or mitigate against any changes to postnatal support (health visitor, breastfeeding, weighing clinics) by considering impact on maternal mental health.
Mothers who spoke to us highlighted the value of peer support groups and the difficulties of being unable to access that support during the worst of the pandemic.
I went to a breastfeeding group which was really supportive and friendly.
