By Bronwen Clatworthy & Eleanor Johnson
One of the best things about working in the breastfeeding world is the opportunity to learn from each other. Bringing together people who share the same goal, but approach it in different ways, helps us see what is possible and what works in practice.
That was the aim when The Breastfeeding Network (BfN) suggested to Public Health Wales (PHW) that we co-host a collaborative webinar exploring breastfeeding-friendly places and schemes across the UK. The session brought together real stories, practical learning and examples of impact, with 98 people registering and 58 joining us live on the day.
Throughout the webinar we heard examples of good practice from every nation of the UK. Each presentation offered valuable insights into how their scheme has helped parents feel welcome, supported, and more confident feeding their babies in public. Feedback was extremely positive, with 100% of attendees saying the webinar met or exceeded their expectations.
“What an inspirational and motivating set of presentations – thank you so much for sharing your amazing work”
Webinar Attendee
The examples shared during the webinar showed that breastfeeding-friendly schemes work best when they combine visible venue commitment, practical support for venues, regular communication, and a shared understanding of why breastfeeding in public matters. Across the different approaches, a common theme emerged: creating breastfeeding-friendly communities is not just about displaying a logo, but about building confidence, normalising breastfeeding and helping families feel genuinely welcome.
Rachel Evans from PHW reminded us why this work matters. She spoke about the importance of empowering breastfeeding families, the bottle-feeding culture that can feel deeply rooted in society, even in Peppa Pig, and the inequalities that can follow when breastfeeding is not seen, supported or normalised.
Through BfN’s presentation, we reflected on what makes our national scheme distinctive. Our commitment to the World Health Organisation’s International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (WHO Code) is central to our approach. Our scheme only recognises venues that are compliant with the WHO Code, meaning we do not sign up businesses or organisations that promote, or are funded by, infant formula manufacturers. This helps ensure that the scheme remains consistent with the evidence-based principles that underpin our breastfeeding support. Although this differs from some other schemes, BfN recognised the importance of avoiding “health washing” or encouraging organisations to “badge up” without truly understanding what it means to be breastfeeding friendly.
We also shared what we have learned from reviewing venues listed on our scheme, including finding that some had closed or changed ownership. We now ask venues to renew their commitment to being Breastfeeding Friendly each year, and our posters are dated to reflect this. With Breastfeeding Friendly training always available for new starters, and regular newsletters for all venues signed up to the scheme, we can keep in touch and provide ongoing guidance. Essentially, we want to ensure BfN’s Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme follows the same principles as all our other work, with the focus remaining on supporting mothers and their babies.
Our friends from the Northern Ireland public health agency told us about their scheme, which has been going for over a decade. Through consistency and collaboration with local partners, they have created a recognisable logo. It was great to hear about the commitment local governments had made to support the scheme.
Susan Short from NHS Lanarkshire highlighted Scotland’s Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme and how a whole-system approach has supported change and improvement. It was wonderful to hear how they have introduced the scheme in early years settings, and to be reminded of the importance of children seeing breastfeeding as normal from an early age, including breastfeeding cuddly toy cats! You can find out about some of the BfN’s work with children and young people, including lesson plans here.
We loved hearing from Debbie and Ellen from Humber NHS Trust about the development of the Hull Milk Trail and breastfeeding hubs. This initiative has encouraged families of all ages to get outside, explore local landmarks and find breastfeeding information in their own time, with plenty of opportunities to learn and have fun along the way. It was great to see how this creative idea has brought together so many organisations, as well as families who might not normally think breastfeeding support was relevant to them. It was also wonderful to see their pop-up breastfeeding hub and admire the artwork created by local children, again reminding us of the importance of introducing breastfeeding from a young age.
We then heard an example of a breastfeeding-friendly scheme working well in Wales, with learning from Powys Teaching Health Board. Their scheme has been approached through a healthy weight lens, and we heard about their “get out there” approach. We were particularly impressed that even a butcher’s shop had become part of the scheme.
Before our Q&A, Lillie shared PHW resources designed to support local schemes. We saw how PHW can help ease the load on local authorities and health boards by supporting a more unified all-Wales approach, as well as hearing about the national organisations they are working with.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their work and contributed to the discussion. Thank you to PHW for working with us to bring this webinar together and to all the speakers who shared their scheme successes and challenges. We hope this is just the beginning of more opportunities to work together and learn from each other as we continue building communities where breastfeeding families feel welcomed, supported and confident, and where every mother knows her rights to feed in public.
If you would like to sign up one or more venues to our national Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme, you can find more information here.