Support on offer for new parents as Wigan breastfeeding charity goes from 'strength to strength'
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Breastfeeding Together, which is based at Wigan Investment Centre, was set up in 2011 to provide peer support for families, from pregnancy through the early years of children’s lives.
Its services were previously commissioned by Wigan Council and staff were “devastated” when the contract was not renewed in 2020, as town hall chiefs decided to provide breastfeeding support alongside other help for families through the Start Well scheme.
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Hide AdBut the team of staff and volunteers have continued to operate across the borough and provide a wide range of support for parents.
Elinor Halliwell, from Breastfeeding Together, said: “We are still very active in Wigan since our commissioned service ended in 2020. We have been successful in securing small pots of external funding which has allowed to continue to run some of our essential services for mums, babies and families across the borough.
“We are always on the look out for further funding opportunities as we recognise there is still a gap in breastfeeding support provision for families. Over the past couple of years we have seen Breastfeeding Together go from strength to strength and we are hoping to be able to increase the number of services we offer in the future to ensure all mums’ and babies’ needs are met.”
The charity provides support for expectant parents, help with feeding their babies and training courses.
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Hide AdThis covers everything from advice on planning for parenthood, safe sleeping for children and feeding, to pregnancy and breastfeeding support groups and making breast pumps available to hire.
Services are available both online and in person, allowing people to access them in a way that suits them.
Activities are held every week across the borough for parents and babies, including a walking group at Pennington Flash and drop-in groups.
Work is done to educate businesses about breastfeeding and how to support their customers, while the charity also highlights breastfeeding friendly firms.
To find out more about Breastfeeding Together and the support on offer, go to www.breastfeedingtogether.co.uk.