New Pilot Service

The Breastfeeding Network are delighted to have been asked by government to run an important pilot night-time breastfeeding helpline service in partnership with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM). This pilot funding will allow us to extend the hours of the respected National Breastfeeding Helpline and social media service that we run together.

Launching in Spring 2024 and funded by The Department for Health and Social Care’s Start for Life Programme, NBH @ Night will allow us to reach more families with round-the-clock information and support through our telephone helpline and social media. This funding covers a trial period of 12 months during which demand for the continuation of this service will be assessed.

NBH @ Night will be managed and delivered by a team of paid staff 7 days a week between the hours of 9:30pm and 9:30am. Our daytime National Breastfeeding Helpline will continue to be an invaluable lifeline for breastfeeding families during our current hours of 9:30am to 9:30pm.

In 2022, The University of Central Lancashire’s Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture Unit (MAINN) asked callers to the daytime National Breastfeeding Helpline and social media services, about their experience. The response was overwhelmingly positive and demonstrated just how valuable our current National Breastfeeding Helpline and the information and support of our highly skilled volunteers is to supporting mothers and families at all stages of their breastfeeding journey.

Some of the key findings from this survey included:

· 99.15% of callers said they would recommend the services to others

· 97.32% felt the volunteers had enough time for them

· 92.25% reported being able to put into practice the information they had received

· 96.17% felt reassured after their call

Callers were also asked their thoughts on extending the hours of the service to offer support during the evening and at night, and 32.88% of our daytime service callers wanted to see this. NBH already takes an average of 40,000 calls during the day, each year. We are delighted that the introduction of NBH @ Night will give us the opportunity to extend this invaluable national service and to reach even more families with breastfeeding support when they need it most.

We will share updates on the launch of NBH @Night over the coming weeks and months on our website and social media platforms. Please watch this space!

In the meantime, our new 24/7 service will offer some fab paid employment opportunities. If you have voluntary or paid experience in breastfeeding peer support, and a passion for delivering non-judgemental, evidence based infant feeding support, we may have just the role for you!

You can find a list of all our current vacancies here: https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/get-involved/recruitment/