The Baby Feeding Law Group has recently published a Toolkit for Food Banks – Information for Food Banks: Supporting pregnant women and families with infants.

This Toolkit aims to encourage organisers and volunteers working in food banks to ensure that food bank donations, and information given to mothers and families, do not inadvertently undermine breastfeeding and harm infant and young child health.

Topics covered in this resource

  •  Why do food banks need information to support pregnant women and families with infants?
  • Making sure all eligible families know about the welfare food scheme ‘Healthy Start’
  • Supporting women in pregnancy
  • Supporting breastfeeding families
  • Frequently asked questions and myth-busting about breastfeeding
  • Supporting families with babies who are bottle-fed
  • Guidance on formula milk donations – why these are inappropriate
  • Organisations and resources that offer further support

Who is the information in this resource for?

The information in this resource is for:

  •  those involved in developing, delivering, running or supporting food banks
  • those involved in setting standards and commissioning services around poverty and food security in local and national areas, and
  • those involved in providing family and children’s services.

The Baby Feeding Law Group hopes that its contents will be part of the induction for volunteers in food banks, and that the information can also be used to make posters to illustrate the key points for display in food banks.