Health Visiting within the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust is proud to achieve the prestigious UNICEF Baby Friendly GOLD Award after an intensive assessment by UNICEF in December 2020. This is a fantastic accolade, especially as the preparation and assessment was achieved in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all of the restrictions and challenges that this presented to the service.
Positive feedback from our client survey as part of the assessment illustrates how UNICEF breastfeeding standards have become embedded in practice. UNICEF commended the whole team for providing such a kind and supportive service for staff and for babies, their mothers and families. Frontline staff were commended on demonstrating to UNICEF their knowledge, skills and commitment, to support all breastfeeding mothers, and is an excellent example of how team working ensures best practice and ultimately evidence based service delivery to our clients.
Special commendation goes to the leadership of Lead Nurse Helen Leigh, Community Infant Feeding Lead, Lesley McKeown and Nurse Manager, Janet Taylor for taking this forward in the most challenging of circumstances
The community breastfeeding steering group members worked tirelessly to ensure the service met and submitted all the necessary evidence to demonstrate that the required standards for practice for GOLD were achieved.