Infant feeding support
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is best for your baby.
Exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months provides your baby with all the nutrients they need in their early life.
If you continue to breastfeed alongside solid food for as long as mother and baby are happy, this provides babies and infants with the best possible start in life.
Breastfeeding helps to protect your child from:
- infection and diseases, such as ear, gastro-intestinal and chest infections
- childhood diabetes
- obesity
For the mother, it also reduces the chance of diseases later in life, such as:
- ovarian cancer
- breast cancer
- weak bones
Breastfeeding in public
Under the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005, it is an offence to stop a person feeding a child milk (either breast or bottle) in a public place.
Many local businesses have signed up to the national Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme, which aims to support mums breastfeeding in public.
Support with feeding your baby
Please reach out to your midwife and health visiting team who will support you with feeding your baby.
You can access breastfeeding, combination and formula feeding support from the Integrated Infant Feeding team.
This includes:
- the Maternity team, based at Ayrshire Maternity Unit
- Community Infant Feeding Nurse
- Breastfeeding Network peer supporters
All first time mothers receive six weeks of one-to-one support from our peer supporters.
It is important to access information on infant nutrition so that you can make informed choices about feeding your baby.
The ‘Ayrshire Bairns’ section of the NHS Ayrshire & Arran app is full of useful information
To get the free app for your mobile phone or device:
- Search for “NHS Ayrshire & Arran app” in the Play Store for Android devices, or the App Store on Apple devices.
- Search for “Ayrshire Bairns”.