A nursery in Overtown is now officially a breast feeding friendly environment for mums.
Orchard Nursery, which is situated on Castlehill Road in Wishaw, recently became one of the first Early Learning Centres in North Lanarkshire to receive Breastfeeding Friendly Accreditation.
As an accredited Early Learning Centre, staff completed training, a new breastfeeding policy was developed and rolled out and facilities were put in place to help support breastfeeding mums and their families.
Breastfeeding champion, Heather McKendrick, plays a key role in ensuring the breastfeeding friendly message is delivered.
Her work has involved ensuring suitable space is available for mums to breastfeed and to store and express milk; rolling out a breastfeeding friendly policy across the learning facility, including new resources such as books and toys, which convey the breastfeeding message, and making staff aware of the flexibility in place to allow them to continue breastfeeding on their return to work from maternity leave.
Heather believes the training she’s completed will have a positive impact on the nursery families and support informed choices in relation to infant feeding.
Throughout the accreditation process staff were supported by Louise James, health improvement practitioner, maternal and infant nutrition, who commended the team’s hard work. She was particularly impressed with the new breastfeeding policy and how this was implemented across the nursery, primary and the Language Communication Support Campus.
Almost seven per cent of North Lanarkshire Council’s education settings now have a nominated breastfeeding champion.
Helen Mackenzie, headteacher at Orchard Primary and Nursery, said: “Education is key to changing the culture of breastfeeding and, from an early age, we’re supporting the breastfeeding friendly message, not just within our nursery but across primary and high school in health and wellbeing aspects of the curriculum.
“Staff are passionate about the breastfeeding friendly message and worked hard to successfully complete their training to allow them to pass on their knowledge and provide support to mums, staff and families using our facility. I’m absolutely delighted to receive this accreditation and proud that we are championing breastfeeding.”
Fifty per cent of mums choose to breastfeed at birth, with one in three continuing after six to eight weeks. Breastfeeding delivers many health benefits to both mums and babies and is considered crucial to the overall strategy of improving Scotland’s long-term health.
Councillor Lisa Stubbs, early years and older people’s champion, added: “It was great to visit the nursery and see first-hand the resources and facilities on offer and hear from the staff about their experiences.
“By working with our partners and local communities, we aim to make North Lanarkshire a supportive and welcoming place where new mums breastfeeding feel comfortable and where our young people can look forward to a healthy future.”
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