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Breastfeeding

Learn about the benefits of breastfeeding for you and your baby and the range of breastfeeding support and services in Nottinghamshire.

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Choosing to breastfeed

Breastfeeding your baby exclusively for the first 6 months gives them the best start in life. Breastfeeding offers many health benefits for both mothers and babies. It’s not always easy, but if you choose to breastfeed, a range of local support is available from

  • Your midwife
  • Healthy Family Team
  • Baby and Breastfeeding Encouragement and Support groups, known as BABES groups. These are often held in Family Hubs with a trainined breastfeeding support volunteer.

Health benefits for babies

Any amount of breastfeeding has a positive impact, as breastfed babies have:

  • less chance of diarrhoea and vomiting
  • fewer chest and ear infections
  • less chance of being constipated
  • less likelihood of becoming obese and developing type 2 diabetes
  • less chance of developing eczema

Health benefits for mum

Breastfeeding is good for mums as:

  • evidence suggests it can build a strong physical and emotional bond between mother and baby
  • lowers the risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer
  • naturally uses up to 500 calories a day

Before your baby is born

Your midwife and the Healthy Family Team will talk to you about how you’re going to feed your baby. They may also tell you about the Antenatal BABES virtual course you can attend with the Family Hubs

After your baby is born

Your Midwife and Healthy Family Team practitioner can visit you at home. or meet you at a breastfeeding group or community venue, such as a Family Hub. They will answer your questions, resolve difficulties you may be experiencing or just talk about how your baby's needs will change.

Infant Feeding Advisors can also support you if you need additional or more complex advice. Referral to this service is through your health professional such as a GP, Healthy Family Team, Midwife or Family Hub.

For more information on breastfeeding and infant feeding visit Breastfeeding and infant feeding support (Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust)

Learn how a breastfeeding peer supporter helps a mother with her positioning and attachment in this, 1-minute 50-second video produced by Unicef UK.

You may choose to express your breastmilk and give this via a bottle.

Find useful information on expressing at Expressing your breast milk (NHS Best Start in Life)

Some parents choose or need to bottle feed their babies and use formula milk.

Learn more at Baby Feeding and Weaning

Notts Breastfeeding Friendly in the Community Places

Notts Breastfeeding Friendly in the Community Places logo

A range of local venues have signed up to being Breastfeeding Friendly places. Click on your local district below for a list of venues and addresses, or click on the map link to show the venues on a map of the district.

If you own a venue and would like to be part of the scheme there is an information pack available at Breastfeeding and maternal health (Nottinghamshire County Council)

Find out about the Breastfeeding Friendly scheme in Nottinghamshire in this 11-minute video produced by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Download a list of the Breastfeeding Friendly Places scheme venues for each district, or open the locations up in a map.

Ashfield

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Ashfield [PDF]

Open Ashfield breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Bassetlaw

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Bassetlaw [PDF]

Open Bassetlaw breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Broxtowe

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Broxtowe [PDF]

Open Broxtowe breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Gedling

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Gedling [PDF]

Open Gedling breastfeeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Mansfield

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Mansfield [PDF]

Open Mansfield breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Newark and Sherwood

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Newark and Sherwood [PDF]

Open Newark and Sherwood breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Rushcliffe

Download a list of breastfeeding friendly places in Rushcliffe [PDF]

Open Rushcliffe breastfeeding friendly places as a map (Google maps)

Learn more at Useful information for Breastfeeding (Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust)

BABES (Baby and Breastfeeding Encouragement and Support)

Family Hubs Network Logo.

Family Hubs offer two types of Baby and Breastfeeding Encouragement and Support. Antenatal BABES is a course aimed at expectant parents. BABES groups offer a welcoming atmosphere for all mums who breastfeed (or mums-to-be), offering tips and practical ways of helping mums to enjoy their breastfeeding experience and to help with any concerns.

Antenatal BABES

The Family Hubs Antenatal BABES course is aimed at parents expecting a baby, from 28 weeks pregnancy.

It helps families to understand their changing relationships, provides information on breastfeeding and feeding choices, increases knowledge on safe sleeping and preparation for becoming a parent.

It covers:

  • Norms of new-born behaviour
  • The importance of keeping baby close and feeding cues
  • How breastfeeding works: Positioning and attachment; The importance of skin-to-skin contact
  • Benefits of breastfeeding: Hand expression; Milk storage; Responsive (pace) feeding
  • Caring for baby at night
  • Safe sleeping

It’s usually virtual, but if you don’t have access to a computer or Wi-Fi is a barrier, then the Family Hub will try and make other arrangements.

Contact the Family Hub team to get a place on their next course.

Find your nearest Family Hub (Nottinghamshire County Council)

BABES Groups

BABES groups are held in Nottinghamshire Family Hubs. Mum's can get breastfeeding support and practical advice from trained volunteers. This provides opportunities to meet other breastfeeding mums and share your experiences. The groups are open to all mums who would like to find out about feeding options.

Find your nearest Nottinghamshire Family Hub BABES Group

Learn from organisers and users of the BABES breastfeeding support group about what benefits the group can offer new mums, in this 6-minute video from Manton Family Hub in Worksop.

Learn how Emily, one of the Family Hub Breastfeeding Peer Support Volunteers, supports mums with their breastfeeding journey, in this 1-minute 40second video.

Learn why Sarah volunteers as a Peer Supporter in BABES Groups in this 30-second video.

Learn about Lauren's, experiences as a newly trained BABES group volunteer, in this 50-second video.

Specialist Infant feeding leads

In Nottinghamshire there are three Specialist Infant feeding leads who are all International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) and can support you with more complex feeding issues.

They are:

  • Theresa Drozdwoska - Specialist Infant Feeding Lead for Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe
  • Alison Jee - Specialist Infant Feeding Lead for Newark and Sherwood and Bassetlaw
  • Joanne Glossop - Specialist Infant Feeding Lead for Mansfield and Ashfield

All the leads run breastfeeding clinics across the county. Referral is via your:

  • Healthy Family Teams
  • Midwives
  • GP’s and Family Hubs for any complex breastfeeding issues.

Mums should be reviewed face to face by the Healthy Family Team prior to referral. Mothers cannot self refer to these clinics.

To book an appointment contact the Advice line on 0300 123 5436.

Clinics are held at:

Rushcliffe

First Tuesday morning each month
Cotgrave Health Centre
Candleby Lane, Cotgrave, NG12 3JG

Second and Fifth Tuesday of month
Bingham Health Centre
3 Newgate St, NG13 8FD

Broxtowe

Second and third Tuesday morning each month
Stapleford Care Centre
Church Street
NG9 8DA

Second and third Tuesday morning each month
Eastwood Family Hub
Chewton Street, NG16 3HB

Gedling

Second and fourth Tuesday morning each month
Park House Health & Social Centre
Burton Road, Carlton NG4 3DQ

Newark and Sherwood

Wednesday morning except the first of the month
Newark Health Centre
Portland Street, Newark NG24 4XG

First Wednesday morning of the month
Ollerton Family Hub
Dukeries Academy, Whinney Ln, New Ollerton, Newark NG22 9TD

Bassetlaw

Tuesday mornings
Manton Family Hub
Community Way, Shrewsbury Road, Worksop S80 2TU

Ashfield

Tuesday mornings
Ashfield Health and Wellbeing Centre
Portland Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, NG17 7AE

Mansfield

Thursday mornings
Bull Farm Primary Care Centre
Concorde Way, Mansfield
NG19 7JZ

Download the timetable Nottinghamshire Breastfeeding Clinics [PDF]

Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding Guides

You may have worries when breastfeeding and these guides have useful support and advice:

Download Infant feeding practice and proceedures (Family Hub Network) [PDF]

  • Sherwood Forest Hospitals, has a range of information leaflets for on the topic of pregancy, and after the birth of your baby, in their Patient Information Leaflet library

Find out more, go to Patient Information leaflet library (Sherwood Forest Hopsitals NHS Foundation Trust)

Off to the best start leaflet cover
  • A guide to help you start breastfeeding produced by NHS-Start4Life

Download Off to the best start (NHS Start4Life) [PDF]

  • The First Steps Nutrition Trust has produced some useful advice for new mums, including for those who are breastfeeding

To learn more, visit Eating well infants and new mums (First Steps Nutrition Trust)

Online advice

Foreign Language Resources

Unicef have created infosheets available in multiple languages with the basics of feeding and responding to your baby. With straightforward language and simple illustrations to aid understanding:

Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia)

Tongue-tie is a condition that some babies are born with, where the strip of skin that connects the baby’s tongue to the bottom of the mouth is shorter than usual. The medical name for the condition is ankyloglossia. In some babies, it can make feeding more difficult and so a minor procedure can be carried out to remove this. For more information take a look at:

Local Maternity Services

Most mums-to-be in Nottinghamshire are cared for by Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals Foundation Trust (Worksop), Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust Foundation Trust (Sutton-in-Ashfield and Newark) and Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust (City and QMC).

Information on breastfeeding from the midwifery services can be found at:

Being a supportive partner

Having a new baby can be hard and breastfeeding is not always easy, but support from close family members can make a real difference to how long a mum continues to feed her baby. Little things such as giving mum a massage, getting her a drink or letting her have an extra hour in bed, while you entertain the children are all great. Here are some suggestions from BreastfeedingTogether

How can Dad support with Breastfeeding?

  • Offer encouragement to mum, let her know she's doing a great job
  • Learn what effective breastfeeding should look like so you can help to recognise the signs
  • Help with nappy changes, there will be plently of them!
  • Many babies enjoy bathtime,get to know yours by bathing them
  • Spend time with the baby, talk to them, cuddle them and get to know them
  • Take baby for a walk so mum can get some rest.
  • Don't forget to keep mum well fed and watered, milk production uses extra calories!

How can Dad Support with a Breastfed Baby (Breastfeeding Together) [Infograph]

For more information on being a supportive partner, go to:

Returning to work

Planning your return to work can be an emotional time, there is no need to stop breastfeeding when you return to work. Depending on the nature of your job and the age of your baby, you’ll probably need to make a few adjustments with your routine. You’ll also need to talk to your employer, but time away from your little one doesn’t mean breastfeeding has to end, ots of mums continue to breastfeed when they return to work.

Katie is one of the Family Hub trained breastfeeding per support volunteers. Learn about her experience of returning to work and continuing to breastfeed her baby, in this 2-mintue video.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare have created a step by step guide, to help mum's to prepare for returning to work, while still being able to breastfeed.

Download Back to work or education plan for breastfeeding mums: A step by step guide (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust) [PDF]

Further guidance can be found at Breastfeeding and returning to work (National Childbirth Trust - NCT)

Social Media support groups

It’s good to link up with other breastfeeding mums for advice and support and in Nottinghamshire there are several great Facebook pages and support groups countywide, you could join or follow:

If you live in Bassetlaw, you could join or follow:

If you live in Rushcliffe, you could join:

If you live in Mansfield, you could join:

Last updated: 19 March 2026