BUSINESSES are showing their support for breastfeeding mums by displaying a poster showing that breastfeeding is welcome there.

Shops, cafes, libraries, children’s centres, surgeries and leisure centres are among the places that have agreed to show the poster.

Fenland District Council, NHS Cambridgeshire and Children’s Centres are working together to increase the number of locations where women feel comfortable to breastfeed.

Two out of three mothers worry that people disapprove of breastfeeding in public, according to a study by the Department of Health – despite the fact that the same study showed that about 85 per cent of the population finds it acceptable if done discreetly.

Elizabeth Oselton, from Leverington, who has two children including a nine-week-old baby, said: “When you first start breastfeeding in public you can be quite nervous but if you see the Breastfeeding Welcome sign you know that staff know what you are doing and support you and that if someone did challenge you they would back you.”

Councillor Ralph Butcher, FDC’s portfolio holder responsible for health, said: “Next week is National Breastfeeding Week, which aims to highlight all the benefits of breastfeeding both for mothers and babies. So this is a perfect time for businesses to play their part by showing that mums are welcome there.”

Help for breastfeeding and expectant mums is also available from peer support groups made up of volunteer trained mothers who have breastfed themselves.

• If you would like your business to join Breastfeeding Welcome, call Jan Emery or Debra Bodger at FDC on 01354 654321 or e-mail environmentalservicerequests@fenland.gov.uk

For more details of local support groups, call Bernadette Crosson from NHS Cambridgeshire on 07747 026145 or e-mail bernadette.crosson@cambridgeshire.nhs.uk