Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) has achieved Stage 1 accreditation from the prestigious UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative.
The Baby Friendly Initiative, established by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), provides an evidence-based framework designed to transform healthcare for infants and their families. The accreditation process spans three distinct stages. By completing Stage 1, the SCBU team has successfully established the foundational policies, guidelines, and training frameworks necessary to ensure parents are supported to be active partners in their baby’s hospital care journey, then continue to develop strong bonds with their child.
The primary focus of this initial milestone centers on formalising best practices already taking place on the ward. Key priorities include:
- Ensuring every newborn is offered the opportunity to receive breast milk where possible, while offering tailored guidance for all feeding choices.
- Helping families develop close, loving bonds with their babies during their stay in the unit.
- Shifting traditional hospital dynamics so parents and carers are welcomed as true partners in care rather than visitors.
Working towards full Baby Friendly status across subsequent stages allows units to benchmark their practices against recognised national standards, ensuring that care directly supports a baby’s physical and emotional development.
Kelly Murphy, Neonatal Infant Feeding Lead, who led the project for the unit, expressed her pride in reaching this benchmark.
“We work really hard to ensure where possible that babies are offered breast milk; to support families to develop close, loving relationships with their babies; and to create an environment where parents and carers are seen as partners, not visitors. So it is fantastic to see these successes formally recognised. This confirms that we are helping to give babies the best possible start in life.”
Achieving the accreditation required a whole-team effort, particularly given the unit’s size and structure.
Karen Parker, Associate Director of Midwifery and SCBU, highlighted the dedication shown across the unit:
“This is a fantastic achievement on behalf of the whole team, and I am proud to work alongside such committed and proactive people. We have a very small unit and do not have the resources to have a full-time person working on this, so every member of staff has to become a breastfeeding champion and an expert in working with families as partners. This recognition is testament to that hard work. A very special thanks to Kelly for all of her efforts in leading this work and making it happen.”
With Stage 1 foundations now securely embedded, the SCBU team continues its commitment to maintaining an empowering, high-quality environment for neonates and their families across Gateshead.
