Apply for the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Award
Having a breastfeeding friendly venue can help families to feel confident to breastfeed in public. This is not only good for families, but great for your venue as well.
Breastfeeding has lots of positive impacts for the health of mums and their babies.
We’re passionate about supporting Derbyshire families to reach their breastfeeding goals and an important part of this is making sure that families feel comfortable to feed while out and about.
This can help reduce feelings of loneliness, improve mental health, reduce stigma, and ease their breastfeeding journey.
That’s why we run the Breastfeeding Welcome Here award. It’s a free accreditation scheme to show you support families to breastfeed in your venue.
The aims of the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Award are to:
- help community venues show they actively welcome and support breastfeeding
- support new families to feel confident breastfeeding when out and about
- improve awareness about the lifelong benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child
- remove any barriers that may prevent people from breastfeeding in public
The benefits of signing up:
- the scheme is free to join
- by offering a more inclusive service and making your venue more family friendly, you are more likely to have repeat customers, who in turn spend longer at your venue
- it provides free, positive, publicity for your business
- GP and dental practices can improve patient satisfaction and patient health
- by supporting breastfeeding, you will be making a positive contribution to the health of families across Derbyshire
Achieving the Breastfeeding Welcome Here Award
There is a short application process. This will help you understand how to provide a welcoming environment for breastfeeding families.
The following things will be needed for you to be eligible for an award:
- provide a comfortable place for people to breastfeed – it doesn't need to be a separate room, but it should never be a toilet
- treat customers who are breastfeeding the same way you would any other patron
- ensure all staff are aware of the law that protects breastfeeding Equality Act 2010 and know how to deal with any comments from other customers - you can include this information in new starter inductions and any mandatory staff training
- consider developing a breastfeeding policy for your business or venue
Once your application has been received, provided you meet all the essential criteria, you will receive a Breastfeeding Welcome Here sticker and certificate.
Display your Breastfeeding Welcome Here sticker and certificate in a prominent place so families and staff know that you support and actively welcome breastfeeding at your venue.
Your venue and its facilities will be automatically advertised on our health visiting service so families can see Breastfeeding Welcome Here venues in their area. For this reason, your venue needs to be open to the public.
Once you have received your award, you will need to complete a reaccreditation every 2 years to stay registered. You will receive a reminder email before your expiry date.
Successful applications and further details
If your application is successful, we'll award you with a certificate and other display information so that mums know that you welcome breastfeeding.
For further details contact the Start Well team:
Check out more information to support breastfeeding.
For information how your workplace can support breastfeeding employees visit employer obligations for infant feeding.