By Pamela McGowan Health reporter

Published at 05:12, Friday, 08 May 2009

MIDWIFERY staff across north Cumbria are holding a series of events from May 10-17 to promote National Breastfeeding Awareness Week.

The team from the Cumberland Infirmary will be going out into the local community to talk to mums-to-be.

This includes an awareness event at Mothercare in Carlisle city centre and a party for members of the successful breastfeeding group at the city’s Morton Manor.

Meanwhile, staff from Penrith Birthing Centre are holding a special Picnic in the Park celebration in the town.

The annual National Breastfeeding Awareness Week is a countrywide event that has taken place since 1993.

Run by the Department of Health, it aims to highlight the fact that breastfeeding is the healthiest feeding option for both babies and their mothers.

This year’s theme is Breast Feeding Every Day Makes a Difference for Your Baby.

Evidence shows that breast milk gives babies all the nutrients they need for the first six months of life and also helps to protect them from infection. It also reduces a mother’s chances of developing certain diseases later in life.

Over the next week, mums-to-be in north Cumbria will be encouraged to recognise these benefits and give breastfeeding serious consideration.

It will also highlight the support that is available for mothers choosing this option.

In Carlisle, breastfeeding co-ordinator Helen Ferris and her team will be based at Mothercare to talk to mums-to-be as well as holding the Morton Manor party on Friday, May 15.

New mums in the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle will also be invited to take part in a prize quiz to promote breastfeeding. The Penrith event has been organised by maternity support worker Kath Liddle.

It takes place in Castle Park on Thursday, May 14 at 1pm and is open to all those who have attended the support group over the last two years.

A similar Party in the Park event will take place in Castle Park, Whitehaven, on Saturday, May 16. Organised by Sharon Rogan, the breastfeeding co-ordinator at the West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven, it is open to all breastfeeding mums, pregnant mums and anyone who supports breastfeeding.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk