News

Kettering General Hospital has received a national re-accreditation for the very high standards it has in supporting mums to breastfeed and formula feed.

The Trust has just passed an external assessment and validation to receive full reaccreditation for the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative Maternity Standards.

This prestigious UNICEF accolade is awarded to organisations that have established and implemented very high standards of care for all pregnant women and new mothers.

It means the organisation has demonstrated it is committed to supporting mothers to initiate breast feeding and encourages them to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months – while at the same time also supporting parents who choose to formula feed.

KGH’s Head of Midwifery Mara Tonks said: “This is a fantastic achievement and one we are very proud of. It is an accreditation many maternity units are working towards.

“Achieving this very high level of accreditation takes time and effort to ensure that the care delivered, and all of a hospital’s processes, are of a very high standard.

“I want to congratulate all staff, especially those who have taken part in the reaccreditation process. They have all worked very hard to support mothers and their families at this  important period of their lives.”

Infant Feeding Co-ordinator Janice Smith said: “This has been an amazing team effort by all the staff in the maternity and neonatal units.

“The Baby Friendly Initiative is about supporting more mums to breast feed and also to support those mums who have made an informed decision to formula feed.  What has been really pleasing is the positive feedback we have received from the mothers themselves.

“Some of our ladies have said lovely things about the help and support they get from KGH staff both in hospital and in the community.

“One of the most appreciated things was that staff always made time to help them with feeding their baby.

“I also want to thank all of the women who gave up their time to take part in the UNICEF assessment.”

The Trust originally gained this accreditation in 2016 following an intensive eight year work programme to ensure that:

• All maternity and neonatal unit staff - including midwives, neonatal nurses, paediatricians, obstetricians, maternity support workers and healthcare assistants - have completed detailed infant feeding training.
• All of the Trust’s policies and guidelines reflect UNICEF Baby Friendly standards and support all mothers to initiate and continue breast feeding.

This thorough assessment, by UNICEF, of the Trust’s care involved a review of audit data collected over a six month period and phone calls to mothers who had recently given birth at the hospital. 

The Baby Friendly assessment team said to KGH in their report that ‘it was clear to the assessment team that pregnant women and new mothers receive a very high standard of care’.  They also quoted that some mothers they had interviewed during the assessment said: “I was amazed how good the care was – brilliant” and “the feeding team were really helpful.