Healthcare Professionals: click here for distribution and ordering details.

Official Launch: Monday 3rd November 2008 (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). Click here for media release.

See what the media's been saying so far...

The health benefits of breastfeeding to mother and child are huge. A breastfed baby is 5 times less likely to end up in hospital with gastroenteritis than a formula fed baby. The main reason that women stop breastfeeding early is because they lack information and support. That's also why younger mothers from poorer backgrounds are less than half as likely to start breastfeeding than older mothers. Production is now complete on our groundbreaking breastfeeding DVD titled "From Bump to Breastfeeding: following real mothers' stories to find out how", which is already going out free to pregnant women in the UK. The films are being made in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH) and many key professional and charitable organisations including UNICEF.

The DVD,  produced and directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Jacqui Smith and edited by BAFTA nominated editor Sasha Olswang, aim to motivate and enable the next generation of mothers to make a supported choice to breastfeed by providing real-world stories, advice and techniques in a non-didactic and accessible way. The DVDs will be given free to all pregnant women in England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.

Background information:

Nine out of ten of women who stop breastfeeding before their baby is six weeks old would have liked to have breastfed for longer. Without the necessary advice and support many suffer significant pain, both physical and emotional, before they stop. This DVD will show parents how to get started breastfeeding and provide practical answers to the common problems.
Alison: “Many poor health outcomes stem from the care, nutrition and environmental factors that impact us from the time of conception to age of three. One of the best ways to improve the health of those facing greatest disadvantage is to ensure we reach parents within this critical time frame. There are a number of health gaps we will focus on, however, as a small charity with a UK wide mission we choose to focus upon breastfeeding in our first three years. There’s no doubt that breastfeeding has a significant role to play in closing the health gap”
Breastfeeding lends immunity from the mother - while the baby’s own immune system starts to adapt and develop. As baby grows the constituents of the breast milk alter to mirror the baby’s needs. Nature doesn’t have a fixed formula - it responds to the changing needs of the infant and works in harmony with the baby’s development. Thus, “Infants who are not breastfed, for whatever reason” advises the World Health Organisation “should receive special attention from the health and social welfare system since they constitute a risk group.” Yet the risks are not reflected by the numbers of mums breastfeeding in the UK – we have one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe.
The evidence is compelling. Breastfed babies from younger and poorer families have health outcomes better than or similar to formula fed children in the wealthiest group. Not only does breastfeeding lower the risk of childhood obesity and diabetes, it also lowers the risk of life threatening gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses. And it keeps on giving protection - by lowering risk of cardiovascular disease in later life and helping to prevent babies losing their mothers to breast cancer.

But the reality is that most parents don’t get vital information and support to start breastfeeding or to continue as long as they wish. Without the necessary advice and support many mums suffer significant pain, both physical and emotional, before they stop. So Best Beginnings is now producing the UK’s first DVD on breastfeeding to be distributed free to 600,000 expectant parents each year. These films will put accurate and practical breastfeeding information straight into the hands of parents who otherwise might never become or continue as breastfeeding families.