The Health Visiting Service in Hywel Dda University Health Board has maintained its accreditation as a ‘Baby Friendly’ facility, following an assessment by the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative.

The Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative supports breastfeeding and parent infant relationships by working with public services to improve standards of care.

The team, who provide health visiting services across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, were commended for their work, achieving a 100 per cent pass mark in many of the Initiative’s national standards for infant feeding.

Sharon Daniel, Interim Executive Director of Nursing, Quality and Patient Experience at Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “I’d like to congratulate the team on this wonderful achievement.

“We are proud to have a team committed to ensuring our children have the best start in life and the work they have done to achieve this prestigious accreditation has been in addition to their day-to-day responsibilities.”

The local health visiting service has a small infant feeding team, supported by health visitors, community staff nurses and assistant practitioners.

The assessment process is overseen by a panel of impartial experts in the field of breastfeeding and neonatal care, including representatives from paediatrics, midwifery, health visiting and voluntary organisations.