A MOTHER and baby support group based in Launceston has been forced to close due to cuts to their support network and low volunteer numbers

The Up Front Launceston Breastfeeding Group has been running in Launceston since February 2006.

One member of the group, Emma Weller, has said ‘the nail in the coffin’ for the group has been a loss of support from local not-for-profit company Real Baby Milk. Real Baby Milk have been commissioned by Cornwall Council to provide supervision and support to Cornwall’s 100 or so breastfeeding peer supporters, including those in Launceston, over many years. However, as of the end of December 2019, they are stepping away from that work.

Emma stated: “We understand this is because of ongoing uncertainty regarding funding, and the way support is commissioned. For us as peer supporters in Launceston, this means that we are feeling concerned about where the support we need will come from in future. To date, no alternative to Real Baby Milk has been put in place.”

The Up Front Launceston group was part of Cornwall Council’s services for families, and all volunteers attended accredited training in order to support mums, babies and families with breastfeeding, responsive feeding and caring for their babies.

All knowledge and skills were updated at least once a year.

Louise Hunt, a founding member of the group, said: “The mum-to-mum support we provide forms another layer of support on top of that available from the busy midwives, health visitors and family workers. It helps reduce the isolation and loneliness that can occur when you are a new parent.”

Real Baby Milk have up until now worked in partnership with Cornwall Council and health services to coordinate volunteer supervision, training, and updates for all the groups across Cornwall, meaning it may not just be Launceston’s group which will be affected.

The future lack of involvement from Real Baby Milk also means it is difficult to see how new volunteers will be trained.

Emma continued: “Taking on co-ordinating the group is not something we can ask individual family hubs to do as they do not have the funding or time. They themselves are very busy and often understaffed. I think some groups will take this on themselves, but at the moment in Launceston we are all quite busy so have not got the time.”

Emma has three children all under the age of five, as well as two jobs, and Louise Hunt also has three children, and is in the process of completing her PhD — so time is tight for these volunteers.

Nevertheless, Emma said: “Despite being busy, we all feel passionate about the importance of the group so have taken time out of our busy schedules to volunteer and help where we can. I have spoken to women who not only found the group vital for them to be able to support, learn and continue breastfeeding, but also to make friends, some of which have stayed in contact as their children grew up. I have friends I met at the group whom I still meet up with, and our children have become great friends too.”

The group has a lot to thank Louise for, with Emma stating that ‘without her it would not still be going’: “She is an amazing person and has helped so many mums and their babies over the years.”

A formal statement from the Launceston Up Front Breastfeeding Group said: “We are concerned that we will no longer have support from Real Baby Milk, and we hope Cornwall Council will arrange an alternative quickly. We have spoken to health visitors with regards to joining them on Friday mornings at their weigh-in clinic, also at the Family Hub, and we are able to start to offer support there as of January 10. This will not be the same as a mum-to-mum support group, but we hope it will help us remain available to mums in the community.”

Following the news that the Up Front Launceston group was to close, Hannah Philpott, peer supporter on behalf of Breastfriends Bude, said: “The peer supporters at Breastfriends Bude, the Bude area breastfeeding peer support group, are saddened to hear that the Up Front Launceston group has had to cease operation.

“The Bude group has been running since 2008 but in 2015, due to low attendance and dwindling peer support volunteers (a situation similar to that the Launceston group find themselves in), required help from Real Baby Milk to restructure and relaunch.

“The group rebranded and changed times to run alongside the local health team clinic in order to increase attendance. We also needed to train new peer supporters (of which I was one) to replace a number of experienced peer supporters who had decided to move on after several years volunteering.

“Without the support from the team at Real Baby Milk we would undoubtedly have had to close. We are currently in a good position with a number of active volunteers and regular attendance but worry about the future with no real picture of how the council plans to continue the void, managing and supporting the network of groups across the county, that Real Baby Milk will leave when the current contract ends.”

Breastfriends Bude runs every Thursday from 10am to noon at Bude Family Hub.

- Cornwall Council was contacted for a comment.