National Breastfeeding Week will take place from 18 to 24 September 2023. This year builds on last year’s theme – highlighting that ‘Everyone has a part to play in helping mums to breastfeed’.
It’s an important week in raising awareness about the significance of breastfeeding for both mothers and babies. The week highlights how supporting breastfeeding can come from families, communities, and various services. Creating a positive environment for mothers to nurture their infants’ health and wellbeing is vital for parents and babies alike.
Breastfeeding is a personal choice, and so it’s important to remember there are various reasons why some parents may not be able to or choose not to breastfeed. Whatever your situation, that’s okay. Parenting is about making choices that work for you and your family, and there are many ways to provide love and care to your little one.
Throughout the week, there will be different daily themes and activities showing how families, communities, health and education services all help mums breastfeed the way they want.
A social media toolkit will be available at least two weeks before National Breastfeeding Week, by 4 September at the latest. Visit the Campaign Resource Centre to find out more.
There are also plenty of free resources and campaign stuff to help with any planned activities. These materials are useful for promoting local events and signposting your local community to breastfeeding support tools, such as the Start for Life Breastfeeding Hub.
You can order these now from the Campaign Resource Centre, including:
- the ‘Off to the best start breastfeeding’ A4 leaflet and wallet card, as well as a wallet card dispenser
- empty belly posters to allow partners to add local information on breastfeeding
- editorial content for use in local publications
- social and digital assets and leaflets on the Start for Life Breastfeeding page.
You can also find out more about healthy complementary feeding through the Introducing Solid Foods campaign. There’s a range of resources available from the Campaign Resource Centre ‘Introducing Solid Foods’.
If you’re sharing any resources for National Breastfeeding Week with people you support, don’t forget that MindWell has a section with wellbeing and mental health resources and information about support for new parents in Leeds.
Are you a professional supporting new parents? Our perinatal wellbeing pages contain in-depth pregnancy and postnatal information to support new parents, including support for mental health issues.
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