We provide breastfeeding support through trained breastfeeding counsellors (Leaders) as well as mother to mother support. Our work is important because some mothers need lots of support and encouragement in the early days while they establish breastfeeding and then again later on during their breastfeeding journey.
Our work is voluntary so the skilled breastfeeding support we provide is free to all. This is crucial as the NHS has cut breastfeeding support due to lack of funds & other local providers (incl NCT) have started charging. However we feel passionately that all breastfeeding mothers and babies should have access to free and skilled breastfeeding support in their community.
We provide continuity of care, meaning breastfeeding mothers can see the same Breastfeeding Counsellor week after week, which can be important for some mothers when trying to solve problems or just to establish breastfeeding.
According to a Report published in Lancet in 2016, the UK scores the lowest in breastfeeding rates around the world!!! We feel that we can help to reverse this trend.
We started providing monthly support by holding meetings in volunteers homes but as we have become more popular we are expanding our service by moving into the centre of Wimbledon & holding more frequent meetings. These are the changes we are trying to implement in 2017:
Frequency: weekly
When: Tuesday mornings - 10am to 12 (last entry for 1-to-1 support will be 1130am)
New name: Cafe La Leche Merton in Wimbledon
Where: Hillside Church, Worple Road
Why do we need funds: to pay costs associated with running meetings, incl: teas, snacks, growing our lending library, training new & current leaders & venue hire.
For every breastfeeding mother and baby we have contact with we can make a difference! Please help us to carry on our important voluntary work so we can reach more and more pregnant mothers, and breastfeeding mothers and their babies in Merton & surrounding areas.
Thank you.