LOCAL MUMS FIGHT KENT COUNTY COUNCIL’S PLANS TO CUT VITAL BREASTFEEDING SERVICES WITH NEW CAMPAIGN WEBSITE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KENT UK, Today, KeepKentBreastfeeding.org was launched by Kent mums determined to halt the dramatic cuts to Kent’s breastfeeding services from January 1st 2018. After Kent County Council released their consultation documents on the cuts earlier this month, requesting responses, the idea to create a grassroots campaign to raise awareness was born. The website’s sole aim is to provide information on the consultation and ask affected parents, family members, health professionals and breastfeeding specialists to get involved and have their say. The consultation ends on the 3rd September 2017, so time is of the essence.
“The Kent County Council documents are very long and involved. They’re also vague in places and have some contradictory statements that the incumbent provider has questioned” said Tannice Hemming, who has created the site, with her husband, Jacques Hemming, who both run fledgling marketing consultancy Hemming Communications Limited.
“Currently the service is provided by PS Breastfeeding – a Community Interest Company. They trained me as a breastfeeding peer supporter and I graduated just last month.”
“Many women who instigate breastfeeding run into issues – some that can be addressed by Peer Supporters and some that are best dealt with by Lactation Consultants. Newborn babies require feeding 8-12 times per day, so making access to specialist Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) referral-only will sound the end of many breastfeeding relationships. Mothers dealing with pain and potential tongue tie issues need to be seen as quickly as possible. This simply is not good enough”, she said.
Based on figures from NHS England’s Statistical release of Breastfeeding Initiation and Breastfeeding Prevalence, published in September 2015, around 72% of mothers in the county of Kent initiate breastfeeding. However, across the UK, sustained breastfeeding rates are shockingly low, as Public Health England found less than half of women who initiated breastfeeding continue after two months.
The changes that Kent County Council plan to bring in involve removing open-access to specialist Lactation Consultants (future consultations will be referral-only) and removing breastfeeding support groups entirely, in favour of new, re-designed ‘Baby Hubs’.
Kent County Council plan for Health Visitors to run the new groups, which critics say is heaping even more responsibility, paperwork and work on an already over-worked service.
New Labour MP for Canterbury, Rosie Duffield, published a statement on her website to speak out about the proposed cuts, by the Conservative-led government and said: “I am a mother of two and I know how hard it can be to look after a new-born. Open access clinics that offer feeding services and advice are essential. Mums and dads should be able to drop in for a chat and friendly help. Making clinics only accessible through a professional referral, as Kent County Council are proposing with these terrible cuts, will drastically cut down the number of women using these services.”
KeepKentBreastfeeding.org’s sole aim is to raise awareness of the consultation and provide clear comparisons between the current provision and proposed cuts so that Kent families affected by the changes can write an informed response to the consultation, which must be sent by 3rd September 2017.
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ABOUT KeepKentBreastfeeding.org
keepkentbreastfeeding.org was founded as a grassroots campaign website by Tannice Hemming, supported by several women who are concerned about the proposed cuts to Kent’s breastfeeding support services. The site was donated by fledgling Kent marketing consultancy, Hemming Communications.
Media enquiries to Tannice Hemming, available at tannoamice@gmail.com – telephone contact on request
