What is Breastfeeding Peer Support?

We know that breastfeeding has many benefits for parents, babies and families both in the short and longer term.

Leicestershire Partnership Trust (LPT) are committed to supporting, promoting and protecting breastfeeding. We know that women, their partners and families need access to easily available and effective support during pregnancy and in those early weeks, when breastfeeding is being established.

As well as the Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting) service providing quality support, the value of setting up a network of women to become Breastfeeding Peer Supporters was recognised.

Breastfeeding Peer Supporters are women from their own local communities who have breastfed their own children for at least 3 months. She is a woman who feels positive about her breastfeeding experience and wants to help support other women in their feeding journey, however long that is.

Peer supporters are not health professionals or ‘breastfeeding experts’ but should be considered more of a knowledgeable friend.

In order to maintain safety there may be changes to the way peer support is offered, use our service finder to contact your local peer supporters.

You can find all of the breastfeeding peer support groups across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and their contact information in our in interactive service finder map here. Simply add your postcode to narrow down the results to those closest to you.

Find out more about becoming a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter here.

You can also discover what breastfeeding peer supporters from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland said about their own experiences of being peer supporters in our video series here.