Breastfeeding Friendly Inverclyde

29/09/2025

This programme could change everything👶

24/09/2025

What a lovely photo shared on a local Facebook group ❤️

Do you recognise anyone? 👀

23/09/2025

In light of recent news, we would like to highlight that the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has confirmed that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe and there is no evidence that it causes autism in children.

www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-confirms-taking-paracetamol-during-pregnancy-remains-safe-and-there-is-no-evidence-it-causes-autism-in-children

You can also take the usual recommended doses of paracetamol if you are breastfeeding. Find more information in our Pain Relief (Analgesics) factsheet:
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/analgesics/

If you need information on taking any medication while breastfeeding, please contact our The Breastfeeding Network Drugs in Breastmilk Service team on Facebook or via email: druginformation@breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk

If you are unsure about taking any medication when you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you can also talk to your GP, health visitor, or midwife.

[ID: MHRA confirms taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe and there is no evidence it causes autism in children. You can also take paracetamol at the normal adult dose if you are breastfeeding. Source: Pain Relief (Analgesics) and Breastfeeding Factsheet.]

20/09/2025

Dom from Married At First Sight Australia shared this beautiful photo of her breastfeeding daughter Dove on her Instagram 🩷

19/09/2025

Online antenatal session, preparing to breastfeed. Dates for 2025 coming soon

15/09/2025

✨National Eczema Week ✨

Eczema is a skin condition that causes the skin to become itchy, red, dry, and cracked. It often appears on the hands, inside the elbows, behind the knees, or on the face. Many breastfeeding mothers worry that it could affect their ni***es.

Treatment involves relieving itching, softening the skin with emollient creams, and reducing inflammation, often with mild steroid creams.

You can find details on specific creams to use in our Eczema and Breastfeeding factsheet, here:
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/eczema/

If you have any questions, please contact our team of pharmacist volunteers at The Breastfeeding Network Drugs in Breastmilk Service via Facebook or email: druginformation@breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk. You'll usually receive a reply within 24 hours.

[ID: Eczema and Breastfeeding. Image of a woman scratching her sore arm. .]

05/09/2025

‼️BIG THANK YOU ‼️
We would like to offer a big ‘Thank you’ to Derek, Jenni & everyone at the Lyle Kirk for their warm welcome and for hosting us for our Starting Solids Event yesterday.
Thank you to everyone who attended too, another successful event. Keep you eyes peeled for the next one in October 🍎 🍌 👶 🍴 🦷

08/08/2025

11/07/2025

Heading off on summer adventures with your baby? Or planning to leave them in someone else’s care with expressed breastmilk?

It’s worth planning ahead to make sure your milk is stored and transported safely 💜

🥛Storing:
Always use a sterile container with a lid, not the collection jug, to store your breastmilk. Store your breastmilk in the fridge or freezer as soon as possible - at the back of the fridge, not in the door.

🧊 Keep it cool:
Breastmilk stays at the highest quality when stored in a fridge running at 4°C or lower. If you're unsure of your fridge's temp, assume it’s warmer (5–10°C) and use the milk sooner.

❄️ Freezing is fine:
It slightly reduces some (but by no means all) of the nutrients and anti-infective ingredients of breastmilk.

👜 Travelling?
Use a cool bag with ice packs when travelling or transporting milk. Keeping it cold helps protect its quality.

⭐Using milk:
When stored, the cream and milk may separate out. This is normal. Shake gently to mix before use. If the milk smells sour DO NOT USE.

Check out our website for more information on expressing and storing breastmilk:
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/breastfeeding-information/continuing-the-breastfeeding-journey/expressing-and-storing-breastmilk/

If you'd like to talk to someone about travelling while breastfeeding, give our National Breastfeeding Helpline UK a call on 0300 100 0212 or send them a message on social media - 24/7 💜

[ID: Safe storage of Breastmilk. Milk - Place - Maximum time. Fresh Breastmilk including colostrum. Room temperature - 6 hours. Fridge at 5°C-10°C - 3 days. Fridge at 4°C or lower - 5 days. If temperature rises above 4°C after 3 days then use within 6 hours. Frozen Breastmilk. Freezer at -18°C or lower - 6 months. Defrosting Breastmilk. When defrosting in the fridge - Usually takes 12 hours to defrost, use as soon as fully defrosted. When defrosting outside the fridge - Use as soon as fully defrosted. .]

01/07/2025

Breastmilk changes constantly in relation to your child’s needs.

When your body becomes aware of a virus or bug that your baby has picked up, either through contact with your baby’s saliva, or their skin, or from sharing the environment and picking up the bug yourself too for instance, your body immediately starts to make the antibodies tailored to that infection, and delivers it through your milk.

The more milk your child drinks, the more antibodies and protection they receive.

Levels of prolactin, the hormone that supports milk production, are highest at night, making night feeds an important part of establishing your milk supply.

Levels of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, also increase at night. When we’re born, it takes several months for our body to start making its own melatonin, so your milk helps your baby to start establishing their own sleep rhythms.

Though disclaimer, it can take years for children to sleep through the night. That is natural - if exhausting - too.

The concentration of Human Milk Oligosaccharides, sugars that feed good bacteria in our baby’s gut and protect our children against infections, changes in relation to our children’s age, and even to the seasons.

The concentration of fats and proteins increase as a baby grows into a toddler, along with increased levels of antibacterial and antiviral components such as lysozyme, which is an anti-inflammatory, and destroys bacteria.

Lysozyme increases in concentration from about 6 months old, when babies become more mobile and everything (toys, sand, cats biscuits?) goes straight in the mouth, and keeps increasing after the first year.

The concentration of Lactoferrin also increases over time. Lactoferrin inhibits the growth of some cancerous cells. It also binds to the iron in our baby’s body, preventing it from being available to harmful microorganisms that need iron to survive. Lactoferrin also kills the bacteria strep mutans, a cause of tooth decay and cavities.

Our baby’s immune system takes months to start to become able to fight pathogens effectively, and around 6 years to become fully mature, so the support of the protective factors in breastmilk for as long as possible, ideally 2 years at least, is natural.

The longer we mothers breastfeed for, the more our risk of certain diseases, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is reduced.

All this can be summed up this way: your breastmilk is unique and can’t be replicated.
Breastfeeding is really hard work. But you are doing an incredible thing, and you are BRILLIANT.

More incredible science, references and support at https://human-milk.com

26/06/2025

🎨 Breastfeeding is art.
Look at this lovely mural in Miranda del Ebro, Spain; This is a beautiful way to celebrate breastfeeding and a wonderful reminder of how we can through creativity.

📷 Photo credit: Emilia Bertolo. Shared with permission.

Image description:
A colorful mural on a building in Miranda del Ebro, Spain, shows a mother breastfeeding her baby. The mother smiles and holds her baby lovingly. The La Leche League International logo appears in the lower left corner. Below, people cross the street while a blue car drives by.

20/06/2025

With the pollen count so high this week, you may be wondering what to take to keep your hayfever at bay.

Here are some non-drug treatments that may help:

- Apply Vaseline around your nostrils to trap pollen
- Wear wraparound sunglasses to stop pollen getting into your eyes
- Shower and change your clothes after you’ve been outside
- Some people find that eating local honey helps symptoms.

Whilst many mothers prefer to take as few medicines as possible whilst they are breastfeeding, hayfever can make life particularly unpleasant during the summer months if left untreated. It is not necessary to stay indoors or suffer because you are breastfeeding if medication helps.

Our Hayfever and Breastfeeding factsheet provides guidance on which medicines are safe to take while breastfeeding:
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/hayfever/

We also have a factsheet on Antihistamines and Breastfeeding, here:
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/factsheet/antihistamines/

[ID: Hayfever and Breastfeeding. Wildflower field.]