One of the challenges that new mums face is breastfeeding publicly – in fact, over one in ten UK mums [1] list breastfeeding in public as the most challenging part of their breastfeeding journey. And not only this, worryingly, 13% of new mums say they’ve been openly criticized whilst breastfeeding in public.
As part of its national Feed With Confidence awards, Lansinoh, breastfeeding and maternal health brand, has conducted research to uncover the most, and crucially the least, challenging places for mums to breastfeed in public – to help mums feel more empowered to breastfeed outside of the home.
The brand found that Brent Cross in London is amongst the 10 most breastfeeding-friendly centres in the UK, ranking eighth.
The research has been released to mark the opening of Lansinoh’s annual Feed With Confidence awards – designed to award small businesses and individuals who best support new mums in their breastfeeding journey.
The awards are open to mums themselves to nominate either a person or place that has gone above and beyond to support them in their breastfeeding journey. This is the first year that the awards have run since the pandemic, when restrictions meant that restaurants, cafés and shops had to close.
Lisa Craven, Marketing Manager at Lansinoh Laboratories UK Ltd, said: “Not only does the UK have one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world [2], but nearly one in seven new mums in our survey said they’ve been openly criticized whilst breastfeeding in public. Therefore, we want to champion mums to feel more comfortable breastfeeding whilst away from home.
“At Lansinoh, we are committed to supporting mums to feed confidently, wherever they are. We know that some new mums might not have had a chance to breastfeed in public yet, so these awards – voted for by mums – will hopefully support their journey and empower them to breastfeed confidently in public.
“Our ‘Feed with Confidence’ awards have been running since 2017 and are designed to celebrate those places and individuals who are actively supporting breastfeeding mums, as well as to encourage breastfeeding outside of the home, and ultimately, to support mums to breastfeed for longer.”
The Feed With Confidence awards are now open for nominations. To find out more, or to nominate a person or place, visit https://lansinoh.co.uk/pages/fwc-form
