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Babies and Breastfeeding Information Encouragement Support

Is usually held weekly on Wednesday mornings at the Lanterns Children’s Centre Winchester.After a short pilot,  It was officially started on May 16 2007, by NCT Winchester and is facilitated by Jane Moffett and Ruth Webster, all N.C.T Breastfeeding Counsellors. It is still open in 2023 thanks to amazing generosity from users of the service, members of our local community, Lanterns , but most of all the dedicated Winchester NCT committee and the fundraising teams over the last few years, and all those of you who attended the fun days.

In September  2023  our wonderful branch treasurer, Kim, secured another grant from The National Lottery Awards for all,  this will enable us to continue our work for another year - she is a star! 17 years on we  are still up and running, hopefully 2024 will be another successful year at B.A.B.I.E.S.!

Please also donate if you can, as we never know that a lottery grant application will be successful.

So the key information is:-

We are open 51 weeks of the year (no session between Christmas and New Year)

Email bfcounsellors.winchester@nct.org.uk for any help or more information. 

B.A.B.I.E.S has provided a safe place for mothers to come for support, to ask questions, share their difficulties and meet other mothers with similar concerns.  

-      "Attending BABIES helped build my confidence in breastfeeding and without the support, I'm not sure how long I would have persevered. They were incredibly non-judgemental and provided respite when it just seemed nothing was going right." 

      Mum user A

     "The BABIES sessions were a great way to get used to breastfeeding out and about and also fun socially"

      Mum user B

 -    More groups like this are vital if babies are to receive the benefits of breastmilk, BABIES helped me see I was not alone and that mothers can have problems breastfeeding. Mum C

   -  felt very supported in changing to formula, which is ‘a thing in winchester you get judged for’. ‘i went from being scared of breastfeeding in public, ducking in and out of toilets to hiding the fact i was bottle feeding’. 

Mum D

BABIES costs approximately £9,000 annually to run and is available 51 weeks of the year to any mother or pregnant woman in Winchester and the surrounding area, who may have questions about breastfeeding, mixed feeding or expressing breastmilk. Since May 2007 we have received funding from the NCT Winchester branch, An Awards For all Grant and donations from Winchester Round Table, Lanterns Children's Centre as well as many very generous individual donations, matched funding and fundraising from a wonderfully committed and hardworking team.

Fundays in  2009, 2010 ,2011,2012 , 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019  were a great success. Please email bfcounsellors.winchester@nct.org.uk to get involved in fundraising to secure our future.

You can also show your support by donating any amount, large or small, to ensure this vital service continues for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. Thank-you.