A quality improvement project
A significant drop in breastfeeding between birth and ten days is easily identifiable in Welsh national and local statistics.
In Wrexham, an area with a strong bottle feeding culture, BCUHB introduced a service comprising of a lead midwife (with Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM) Advanced qualification) and a team of infant feeding support workers (band 3) with a minimum requirement of peer support training.
These support workers offered feeding care in hospital and followed up with a phone call post discharge.
There was overwhelmingly positive feedback from mothers. An increase was noted in breastfeeding at ten days. The service has now been introduced in a second hospital