Trust's Maternity department reaccredited with UNICEF's Stage 3 Baby Friendly Initiative status

The Maternity Department at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has passed the recent re-accreditation for Stage 3 Baby Friendly Initiative by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Stage 3 is the highest level of accreditation available before applying for the Gold Sustainability Award.

UNICEF stated that the staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals are commended for their hard work since last year’s reassessment in continuing to support the women, parents and carers they work with.

It was clear to the assessment team that in many areas, pregnant women, parents and new families receive a high standard of care.

This re-accreditation recognises that the team have, for the 11^th year running, shown their commitment to following Baby Friendly standards. These standards promote breast/chest feeding and the use of breastmilk based on extensive evidence to support parents and babies with their feeding journey.

Achieving re-accreditation highlights the Trusts commitment to excellent evidence-based  care for parents and babies with one parent saying they received “outstanding care antenatally and during birth” and mentioned the Trust’s Lime Green Infant Feeding Team saying that their support “has been amazing.”

Sarah Ayre, Head of Midwifery at Sherwood Forest Hospitals said: “The hard work and determination from the team to gain this reaccreditation cannot be underestimated. We are extremely pleased to have been able to do this for our parents and babies. Thank you to all who have contributed to this fantastic achievement.”

Natalie Boxall Specialist Midwife for Infant Feeding at Sherwood Forest Hospitals shared: Sherwood Forest Hospitals said: We’re proud of the collective ongoing work by our teams in community and the hospital to reach this stage of accreditation. This has been complemented through multi-disciplinary working between us and our colleagues in NICU, Transitional Care and Children’s. This one team approach is vital in enabling us to offer progressive parent-centred infant feeding support at SFH, and for us to work towards the BFI Gold Award.

A huge thank you and well done to all involved!

Find out more about the accreditation on UNICEF's website.