Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is proud to announce that its Halton and Warrington 0-19 Services have been successfully re-accredited with the UNICEF UK Stage 3 Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI).
This prestigious recognition follows a rigorous two-day on-site assessment and highlights the Trust’s ongoing commitment to supporting families and giving every baby the best start in life.
The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative is a nationally recognised programme that sets standards for supporting infant feeding and parent-infant relationships.
Achieving Stage 3 re-accreditation means that Bridgewater’s services have fully embedded these standards into everyday care, ensuring that families consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based support.
BFI-accredited services are proven to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates, which are vital for infant health and development. There are also significant health benefits for mothers.
The dedication of the Halton and Warrington teams to these standards means local families are benefitting from the very best start.
Over the past eight months, both teams have delivered nine intensive two-day BFI training courses, as well as additional training for senior leadership teams. The BFI assessment team described the results as “particularly impressive, given that the assessment is based on the implementation of new community standards.”
In Halton, assessors noted that “the increase in continuation rates, and palpable change in culture are a cause of celebration and pride, adding further enthusiasm and vigour in Halton’s Baby Friendly Journey.”
In Warrington, they were “impressed with many aspects of the way the programme is delivered and evaluated, resulting in a well-educated workforce and positive outcomes for local families.”
Photo: Gemma and her baby Iris, who have been supported by Bridgewater’s 0-19 Team.
Michelle Martin, Operational Manager for Halton’s 0-19 Children’s team, said of the re-accreditation:
“I am incredibly proud of everyone involved in this achievement. The hard work and dedication of our staff helps to give so many babies a wonderful start in life. We know that support during a child’s early years is critical and our teams really do go above and beyond to ensure families feel supported, informed and empowered from pregnancy onwards.”
Nicola Connor, Operational Manager for Warrington’s 0-19 Services added:
“I want to thank all our colleagues, whose dedication continues to make a genuine and lasting difference to the health and wellbeing of our community. As a Trust, we’re committed to excellence and to making a real difference in the health of our communities, right from birth and in fact, even before a child is born. The UNICEF BFI accreditation affirms this.”