Breastfeeding Welcome across the Rochdale borough

A scheme to welcome breastfeeding in the Rochdale borough has relaunched, with over 50 venues already signed up as a breastfeeding-friendly place.

The Welcome Breastfeeding scheme has been relaunched by Rochdale Public Health, supported by the Rochdale and Oldham Maternity Voices Partnership (ROMVP), itself hosted by Healthwatch Rochdale and supported by Healthwatch Oldham.

Over 50 children’s centres, libraries, community venues, leisure centres and cafés across the borough have already become breastfeeding-friendly.

Grace Redmond, volunteer advocate at ROMVP, said: “The scheme previously ran in Rochdale but stopped in 2015, this is something Maternity Voices Partnership and Healthwatch have wanted to relaunch for a while so this is very exciting.

“I breastfed my first until he was two in various pubs, cafés and parks around Rochdale, so this is something very close to my heart. Breastfeeding in public can be daunting for various reasons and the scheme is set to help educate venues on how to be breastfeeding-friendly.

“It can be a simple thing like table service when nursing your child alone or just by displaying the Breastfeeding Welcome sticker in the window of your venue.

“Only 1% of babies are breastfed at six months in the UK, one of the lowest rates in the world, and with 80% of mums stopping breastfeeding before they want to, it's something the scheme is set to improve.”

When a venue signs up to be ‘breastfeeding welcome’ and displays the pink and white sticker, it’s a clear message to breastfeeding mums: “You are welcome to breastfeed your baby here.”

Whilst it is legal to breastfeed your baby in public, the NHS suggests starting off with breastfeeding-friendly places in your local area if you’re self-conscious or less confident.

The Equality Act states that it is sex discrimination to treat a woman unfavourably if she is breastfeeding. If you are asked to leave somewhere because you are breastfeeding, you are absolutely within your rights to challenge that request.

According to the Breastfeeding Welcome scheme, polls reveal that seeing a woman breastfeeding does not bother 85% of adults. Despite this, 63% of breastfeeding women report that they have been on the receiving end of unsupportive comments or behaviour while breastfeeding in a public place.

The scheme says that mothers also report finding it hard to know whether they would be welcome to breastfeed in some places, and say they go to places they know they will be welcome so as to avoid the embarrassment of (wrongly) being asked to leave or being subjected to negative comments.

Many businesses and other venues have an open attitude to breastfeeding, but signing up and displaying the Breastfeeding Welcome signs and logos will let them know that they are definitely welcome.

Businesses such as shops, cafés, beauty salons and other public venues can sign up to the Breastfeeding Welcome scheme for free, and support mothers to breastfeed when out in the community, by helping them to feel comfortable on their premises. 

To sign up, your business needs to meet these basic criteria: 

• Provide a comfortable, public area for breastfeeding mums
• Understand some women prefer privacy when breastfeeding and do all they can to help them
• Adopt a breastfeeding policy. Train their staff on how to implement the breastfeeding policy
• Display the scheme’s charter and sticker to tell visitors they welcome breastfeeding

For more information to sign up as a breastfeeding-friendly venue, please contact the council’s public health team:

• Email: breastfeeding@rochdale.gov.uk
• Tel: 01706 927081

To find a breastfeeding-friendly venue near you, please visit:

• www.ourrochdale.org.uk