Health Visiting: Infant feeding
Who is the service for?
We provide feeding support right through from pregnancy to children aged five.
We support all parents, carers, infants and children, however you are feeding your baby or child, and whatever your circumstances. We provide practical and emotional support to help you reach your feeding goals.
What we do
Our UNICEF baby friendly accredited health visiting services strive to offer you the support you need to have a successful and enjoyable experience feeding your baby.
There is a range of help available including group-based and specialist one-to-one assessment and support. If you speak with a health visitor they can discuss your needs, the options available and agree the right approach for you.
Resources
Click on a link below to view a list of resources for the following subjects:
Feeding your baby
Support with breastfeeding and bottle feeding in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Breastfeeding in Bristol
Local and online support groups and resources, helplines, the Bristol Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme.
Breastfeeding in South Gloucestershire
Details of breastfeeding support groups in South Gloucestershire.
Breastfeeding in North Somerset
Details of breastfeeding support groups in North Somerset.
First Steps Nutrition
Provides evidence-based and non-biased information about formula milk. This website also has information about starting solids and nutritional health for parents during pregnancy and postnatally.
The Breastfeeding Network
provides excellent information about taking medications, non-prescription drugs and medical treatments and their safety while breastfeeding. They also have a service where you can chat with an online breastfeeding counsellor on their website.
Basis (the Baby Sleep Information Source)
provides access to evidence about biologically normal infant sleep which influences their feeding patterns.
Unicef’s caring for your baby at night leaflet
offers helpful, practical advice to parents about feeding their baby at night.
Safe use of baby slings’
Information about how to carry your baby safely in a sling or carrier.
Related services
The following services may be of interest:
Information and signposting
You can find more information and support from these infant feeding support groups in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Parents are warmly encouraged to go along to the groups to get support and encouragement from other parents, trained staff and volunteers.
Bristol
The Bristol City Council website has details of all the breastfeeding support groups across the city and the Bristol Breastfeeding Welcome scheme. The page also has links to helpful websites and services in Bristol which provide breastfeeding support for anyone who does not speak English as their first language.
South Gloucestershire
Our Health Visiting page has details of all the Baby Hubs and Breastfeeding groups across South Gloucestershire.
North Somerset
The North Somerset Council website has details of all the breastfeeding support groups across the area and the North Somerset Breastfeeding Welcome scheme.
Useful information
Information on how to get help from a health visitor is available on our Health Visiting page.
The National Breastfeeding Helpline number is 0300 100 0212 and is available 24 hours a day, every day. You can also get support via the webchat.
Getting help
You can get a referral to the specialist infant feeding team through the Health Visiting Service or through talking to staff or volunteers at the baby hubs and breastfeeding groups.
Getting more help (more extensive goal-based help)
You can get a referral to the specialist infant feeding team through the Health Visiting Service or through talking to staff or volunteers at the baby hubs and breastfeeding groups.
I am a professional...
Referrals for support for more complex and/or persistent infant feeding issues using our referral form can be made to the specialist Infant Feeding Teams using the following email addresses:
South Glos Infant Feeding Team: sirona.southglosinfantfeeding@nhs.net
Bristol Infant Feeding Team: sirona.bristolinfantfeeding@nhs.net
North Somerset Infant Feeding Team: sirona.northsominfantfeeding@nhs.net
More sources of support for infant feeding available across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire can be found on the Remedy Infant Feeding Support page.
