Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme Launches in City Centre

Derby City Council have recently launched a new Breastfeeding welcome scheme and are inviting businesses signing up to support breastfeeding parents by making them feel welcome in their restaurants, cafes and coffee shops.

The scheme involves businesses completing a simple and quick online form which has some criteria to check against in relation to their current provision, such as:

• Providing a comfortable place for women to breastfeed; it doesn’t need to be a separate room but it should never be a toilet
• treating breastfeeding mums the same way you would any other customer
• committing to providing informal training for your staff to be supportive of breastfeeding
• displaying your certificate and window sticker to show that you welcome breastfeeding.

Once a new online application form is submitted, an acknowledgement, certificate and window sticker will be sent to you so you can proudly show you are part of this local award scheme. Becoming breastfeeding friendly is good for business as promoting a welcoming environment for parents can increase footfall, and parents are more likely to spend more time and money in places they feel welcomed and supported within. The scheme is also supporting an important public health message around the benefits of breastfeeding and sustaining it.

To access the application form, you will need to register for a Derby City Council ‘myAccount’ which can be done via this link.