MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2024

Photograph attached: L-R Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Hayley McDonald, Senior Nurse, Julie Duncan, Infant Feeding Nurse and Lorna McKerracher, Consultant Neonatologist

First in UK to achieve UNICEF Gold Accreditation for Maternity, Neonatal and Health Visiting & Family Nurse Partnership Services

NHS Tayside is the first Health Board in the UK to be awarded UNICEF Gold Baby Friendly accreditation for maternity, neonatal and health visiting/family nurse services.

The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative is based on a set of standards designed to provide parents with the best possible care to build close and loving relationships with their baby and to feed their baby in ways which will support their health and development. 

The prestigious gold award was launched in 2016 and NHS Tayside’s neonatal service recently achieved the accreditation for the first time. The health visiting/family nurse service was the first in Scotland to receive the gold award in 2018 and the maternity service followed in 2020. Both services have since been reaccredited for a further four years.

This is a significant achievement which is testament to the hard work of all the teams involved and celebrates their commitment to deliver excellent and sustained practice in the support of infant feeding and parent-infant relationships.  

To mark this milestone Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health presented Hayley McDonald, Senior Nurse, Lorna McKerracher, Consultant Neonatologist and Neonatal Services, Julie Duncan, Infant Feeding Nurse, Neonatal Services with the gold award at a celebratory event held today at Ninewells Hospital.

Jenni Minto said, “I am delighted to see NHS Tayside receive the UNICEF Gold award for neonatal services. This completes their achievement across all services to meet the highest standard of UNICEF Baby Friendly accreditation.

“This is an outstanding achievement and NHS Tayside are the first Health Board in the UK to receive this award.”

Becky Colvin, a parent who has experienced all three services said, “Our daughter Maeva made a surprise appearance at 32 weeks and I hadn’t given too much thought about whether I wanted to breastfeed or not.

“My midwife helped me express colostrum immediately after Maeva was born and after a brief conversation about the benefits, especially for a preterm baby, I knew I should continue.

“I was given so much help and information from all staff in the postnatal and neonatal wards and the praise I received from the nurses when I handed over expressed milk every day made me so determined to continue on.

“I am now volunteering as a Breast Buddies peer supporter to help other mums get the support they deserve in their breastfeeding journey. We’re so grateful for the compassion and support we received not just during Maeva’s stay but to this day, we’ll forever be thankful for everyone involved.” 

Members of the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative team had the opportunity to take a tour of the maternity and neonatal units. NHS Tayside was highly commended in the assessment report which stated, “NHS Tayside presents a collaborative and integrated approach to sustaining and progressing the Baby Friendly standards which is strategic, insightful, empathetic to the needs of the local population and visionary”.

UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Programme Director Shereen Fisher said, "We are delighted that NHS Tayside’s Neonatal Service has achieved the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Achieving Sustainability Gold Award.

“This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication displayed by all staff in their progression towards embedding and maintaining high quality care over the long term. We are proud to recognise NHS Tayside’s Neonatal Service for their leadership, culture and the systems in place within the service which will support provision of compassionate and person-centred care for all babies, their mothers, parents, and families for years to come.”

Dr Emma Fletcher, Director of Public Health and Baby Friendly Guardian for NHS Tayside said, “It is fantastic news that NHS Tayside has led the way in the UK and been the first Health Board to gain gold accreditation for all three areas. 

“My huge thanks to everyone for the collaborative approach and continued work they do, to promote breastfeeding and the Baby Friendly standards, and to ensure families are supported across Tayside.” 

The Baby Friendly Initiative, set up by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, is a global programme which provides a practical and effective way for health services to improve the care provided for all mothers and babies.

Contact:

Abigail Reid

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 740716