Not one other single person at Latch On Group!

[4FoxAche]

So I actually got my ass into gear and after dropping my eldest at nursery, took my youngest to the local Latch On Group.

Now, I already knew the area this sure start Centre is in one of the roughest parts of my town but I choose to use the Sure Start nursery for my son as I was really impressed with it and it's only 5 mins away from me. So I decided to go to the other building for Latch On.

Not one single other person there! :(

I was talking to the co-ordinator who says they haven't had anybody turn up for months but she keeps going anyway and helps out with the 'Baby Gym' group.

She was surprised to say the least when she found out I was still BF my 6 1/2 month old and we got chatting about how/what to do about the non existent group.

She asked me if I would do the Peer Supporter Training Course (which I went for info on anyway) and asked me if I could spare some time to help her get the group up and running properly.

Now I am more than happy to do this. I am a SAHM so have plenty of time on my hands but feel it may be a wasted effort when apparenty no-one in this area BF's anyway. (Also this whole area is due to be demolished and re-built from scratch, they are moving people out of their homes really quickly and boarding up all the empty houses and not re-homing any body else in them)

I'm supposed to be going up to see the co-ordinator tomorrow afternoon but no real idea what to say given that I want to help but not really sure it's worth it.

What do you think?

What a shame. I love my bf group and it is the social highlight of my week - there are usually at least 15 "regulars" plus a few more who drop in now and again and I've made some really good friends. I think the key is to promote it - get the HVs to tell new mums about it when they do home visits in the early days, have flyers made and drop them at the dr's when it's baby vaccination day, maybe have the local paper feature a little article on the group...

Maybe you should try and find out from the coordinator why nobody BFs in the area: I assume women are still getting pregnant and having babies, so there's a renewable supply, and then perhaps offering to start/help at an ante-natal group in a local hospital/midwife unit? In my experience they will bite your hand off for the help.

It's what I am intending to do once my registration comes through as a peer supporter because, like you, I see very few women bf-ing in my area.

it sometimes takes a LOT of time and effort to get this kind of thing off the ground

is it advertised well elsewhere? i think it';s an amazi ng thing to have, and if it were me i'd help try and get more people in if possible

Could it be that health visitors and midwives are not telling people about it? I go to a breastfeeding group and everytime I mentioned it to my health visitor (before I started going) she directed me to another much further away group. She just didn't know the one in my immediate area existed.

It very well could be the HV and Midwives tbh.

I only saw my HV once (twice maybe) and not once did she mention the group to me.

I only found out about it through a leaflet I got when registering my son at the nursery.

I think the thing with this area too, not being to sound stereotypical, that it's probably known to HV's that not many women start off BF and automatically choose formula and bottles before baby is even born.

So offering help during pregnancy and helping at ante-natal etc could also be a very good way to start.

I'll keep thinking and taking notes.

Thank-you.

if they can make up posters then you could ask local surgeries/clinics/ante-natal dept to display them

also contact local press and see if they'll run an article about the group

our local group has done little info/drop in type things in our town centre (in the shopping mall and boots and soft play place)

Get a good local cafe or bakery to provide free cake...

that's how I found mine, a poster at the surgery. Weirdly the surgery my health visitor is based in.

Also, the group I go to put a poster in the street right outside the church hall it's held in and our group doubled in size.

We had an input from a peer supporter at our ante natal class. Without that, I wouldn't know ours existed. I've not had my baby yet, but fully intend to BF and go to the drop in "cafe" they have at the community centre when the baby arrives.

However, now I know about it I see it advertised almost everywhere. Doctors surgery, community centre, the free magazine that's delivered monthly, local cafes.

do the peer support training, it'll equip you with most of the stuff you need to get a successful group going, including contacts and networks etc.
it sounds like it needs someone enthusiastic to get the energy levels going again