Infant feeding review 2025

We asked

We asked parents / caregivers and Health Care professionals working in the Borough of Barnet for feedback on the support provided currently. This will help us review the strategy for any strengths and weaknesses in our current provision, to keep on supporting infant feeding in a more robust and effective way.

You said

We received 64 responses from service users and 46 responses from Health Care professionals.

The majority of you (78%) breastfed your babies for a length of time demonstrating that the breastfeeding rate in Barnet is high despite lack of official data. 38% of parents / carers found breastfeeding support up to three weeks post baby to be good or very good but over 60% wished for support beyond three weeks. Over half of respondents felt they were supported for as long as they needed.

40% of respondents had not seen infant formula being advertised but there is still work to do around awareness of the Breastfeeding welcome scheme with only 11% aware of its existence in Barnet.

We did

We have presented preliminary findings to the infant feeding forum who will take them into account when revising the Barnet Infant feeding Strategy and action plan. This is due to a launch in early 2026. In addition work will continue around promoting Breastfeeding welcome and training for healthcare practitioners.