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Hertfordshire County Council

Map of breastfeeding friendly venues

 

 

Breastfeeding advice

Evidence shows that breastfeeding is a great way to get your baby off to the best start. It offers health benefits for you and your child and can save you money.

NHS breastfeeding 
Benefits for you and your baby, plus breastfeeding tips.

Family Centre Service 
Local support groups and health visitors.
 

Breastfeeding in public

The Equality Act makes it clear that it is against the law for anyone to stop you feeding your baby in a public place or ask you to leave.

If breastfeeding in public makes you feel nervous, hear the experiences of these Hertfordshire mums (video 5m 8s)

 

Information for businesses

 
What businesses need to do as part of the scheme

Its simple!

  • Complete and submit our registration form.
  • Train staff to provide a welcoming, helpful attitude. 
  • Greet mothers and babies with a smile and an offer of assistance. Perhaps offer a glass of water? Do they need help with a pram?
  • Provide space that’s clean and seating that’s comfortable and a little out of the way, if possible. It costs very little to move furniture around or add a screen to provide a little privacy in busy spaces like libraries, GP waiting rooms and leisure centres.
  • Display the Hertfordshire Breastfeeding Friendly poster, certificate and window decal/sticker that we send you.

And use our resources:

  • Our training pack - information about breastfeeding laws, why breastfeeding is important and why the scheme is needed. Ask your staff to read the sheet and be aware of what to do if a breastfeeding family come into your premises. Consider keeping it on the agenda in team meetings as a check/refresher.
  • Staff policy - fill it in and include it in staff training.

It helps if other customers and visitors know and accept that babies may be breastfed there. Remind them of the law if there are negative comments.

If you want more training or information please contact dee.debruin1@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

What's in it for your business

  • It makes a real improvement to customer/client relations and can attract a new customer/client base (we cant ignore the spending power of mothers!) 
  • Training staff to be welcoming and helpful to breastfeeding mothers will encourage ongoing supportive and considerate customer service to all customers.
  • New mothers commonly make special efforts to get to know other women in their situation. When they find a place that welcomes them to feed their babies, they pass on the good news and customer numbers grow as a result.
  • New mothers’ visits tend not to coincide with the busiest times of day, so they may bring new custom at what might have previously been quiet times. 
  • When venues such as community centres make efforts to welcome breastfeeding mothers, they see an increase in numbers of people using the other services they provide. Breastfeeding friendly businesses and venues both report a good level of customer/visitor return rates.
  • When businesses choose to welcome breastfeeding mothers, they are making a positive contribution to public health — as well as demonstrating that they are community focused and not solely motivated by profits.
  • Most businesses and venues do have an open attitude to breastfeeding, but women have no way of knowing this. Mothers have told us that seeing breastfeeding friendly signage and information gives them confidence to be in a place they trust will welcome them
  • Businesses that become breastfeeding friendly will get publicity from being listed on our website, as well as the word-of-mouth recommendations that will happen between families.

 

Businesses with no fixed premises

 
If you run activities like baby music, yoga or massage and move around different venues you can still sign your centre, organisation or business up.
 

If another customer complains about a breastfeeding mum

 
The law in both England, Scotland and Wales (The Equality Act) means that a mum cannot be stopped from breastfeeding (or bottle feeding) her baby in any place that she is legally allowed to be. You may be responsible if other customers’ behaviour is brought to your attention and you fail to act. You have an obligation to ensure that a customer who is breastfeeding while receiving a service you provide, is not treated unfairly. You could ask the person who raised the concern if they would feel more comfortable moving to sit somewhere else if that is appropriate (you must not ask the mum to move). The Equality Act 2010 aims to give women complete confidence to breastfeed while going about their day-to-day business. Businesses must facilitate this. 
 

 

Why we started this scheme

Improving breastfeeding rates is a priority for us, for the government and for Unicef's baby friendly initiative.

There is overwhelming evidence of its health benefits. It can also help reduce health inequalities, save families money and lower public spending on health issues that arise more frequently when babies are not breastfed.

The Equality Act makes it clear that it is against the law to stop anyone feeding their baby in a public place or ask them to leave.

Despite all of this, breastfeeding rates in England remain low. 

By actively involving businesses, we can foster an external environment that embraces and supports breastfeeding mothers.

Why are breastfeeding rates low?

 
Mothers’ reasons for not breastfeeding are complex and varied. Women stop breastfeeding before they would like to stop, saying they feel unsupported to do so or that they feel uncomfortable breastfeeding in public.

Statistics from polls

  • 85% of adults are not bothered by seeing a woman breastfeeding, but 63% of breastfeeding women report that they have been on the receiving end of unsupportive comments or behaviour while breastfeeding in a public place.
  • Half of new mothers report that they never attempted to breastfeed in public for the first few weeks of their babies’ lives.
  • Only 39% of breastfeeding women have fed their baby in public by the time their child is 4-6 months old, compared to 67% of bottle-feeding women.

Views of mothers

In a recent survey this is what mothers told us affect them:

  • Not being able to find a comfortable chair – it is difficult to feed at benches that are close to tables as there is not enough room
  • Lack of somewhere to sit down or, if outside, no sheltered seating that is not facing onto a main road/path (i.e. lack of minimal privacy)
  • Unsuitable environment e.g dirty, too cold, too exposed to sun
  • Lack of changing facilities
  • People making comments
  • Struggling to latch baby because of uncomfortable environment
  • Busy, male dominated staff; no where discreet enough, cleanliness
  • Music too loud or lights too bright.
  • The looks people give you when you breastfeed in public: restaurants, park, in a cafe, it made me feel awful and I felt I was doing something wrong.
     

 

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