SOUTHMEAD Hospital is celebrating 10 years of Baby Friendly status this week.

The accolade from UNICEF is given to organisations for encouraging breastfeeding, promoting the health benefits of breast milk and providing support and advice for new mums.

Southmead was one of the largest maternity units in the country to receive the award back in 2005.

Successful reaccreditations for the hospital followed in 2007 and 2011 and the unit will be assessed again in September this year.

Marion Copeland, infant feeding midwife at Southmead, said: “North Bristol NHS Trust’s maternity services are very proud to be celebrating 10 years of Baby Friendly accreditation.

“Our maternity and neonatal staff are dedicated to providing mothers and their new babies with the best possible start.

“We are also very proud to be part of Bristol; the first baby friendly city. We work very closely with all services across Bristol to provide breastfeeding support for all mothers and babies.”

All midwives, maternity care assistants and health visiting teams are fully trained to support new mums with breastfeeding and the trust’s breastfeeding initiation rate has increased to 80 percent over the last 10 years.

The rate of breastfeeding in Bristol for babies six to eight weeks has increased to almost 60 percent – which is higher than the national average.

Sue Ashmore, programme director - UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, said: “I would like to offer heartfelt congratulations on the achievement of this important milestone: ten years as a Baby Friendly hospital; ten years of certified standards of care for mothers and babies; ten years of the best support for breastfeeding.

“Southmead has long been a pioneer in the implementation of the Baby Friendly standards – when first accredited in 2005. Regular reassessments have demonstrated that these high standards of care have continued, with Baby Friendly care now the ‘norm’ in this unit.”

The UK Baby Friendly Initiative is based on a global accreditation programme of UNICEF and the World Health Organization. It is designed to support breastfeeding and parent infant relationships by working with public services to improve standards of care.