Breastfeeding Awareness Week

As part of our focus on breastfeeding we have interviewed Arwen Folkes the hugely inspirational mum behind the fantastic Real Baby Milk (www.realbabymilk.org) company. This not-for-profit organisation campaigns to ensure breastfeeding is promoted positively and to make sure mums are able to access support and information about all aspects of feeding their baby. Recently nominated as Social Enterprise of the Year the company moves from strength to strength and we found out how Arwen set it up, what inspired the business and plans for the future.

Arwen, the Real Baby Milk company is a superb idea..what inspired you to set it up?

When I had my son Milo (now 4 and a half) I had planned a homebirth and wanted everything to be as 'natural' as possible, including a strong wish to breastfeed. I actually ended up having an emergency caesarian in hospital, Milo was 10lb, and the whole birth was pretty traumatic and left me exhausted. I had two really difficult months trying to breastfeed, and had every problem or issue it is almost possible to have. I sought help and two people in particular were fantastic, a midwife and breastfeeding counsellor at Trelikse Hospital called Helen Shanahan and a brilliant community midwife called Nancy Morris. They spent lots of time with me helping me through my problems and I persevered and eventually breastfed well and happily. Without their belief in me and fantastic help I think I would have given up breastfeeding and could have missed out on one of the best experiences of my life.

Overcoming my problems had made me passionate about the benefits of breastfeeding for both myself and Milo and I wanted to make sure other women could have the support and help I'd had. The information I'd been given in hospital about breastfeeding wasn't comprehensive enough or coherent. Plus compared to the huge budgets spent on advertising artificial milk, breastmilk wasn't given a fair shot at changing people's perceptions or promoting the benefits of breastfeeding. In 2002, when Milo was born the artificial milk manufacturers were spending on average £20 per baby promoting their products, compared to the Government who were spending 0.14p on promoting breastmilk....something had to change! I wanted to create a marketing campaign for breastfeeding in Cornwall.

What is your background?

Before having Milo I'd worked in Marketing, promoting Economic Development in Cornwall. I'd also set up my own company, Launchpad Marketing, working from home with small businesses. After my positive experiences breastfeeding Milo I trained as a Peer Supporter with my local Sure Start. I realised then exactly what a huge difference support does make for women and the amount of mis-information there is out there. The myths surrounding breastfeeding needed challenging and I wanted to make sure breastmilk was given a chance to be promoted positively.

How did you got about setting Real Baby Milk up?

I began the company on my own, working on a purely un-paid basis from my kitchen table. My husband thought I was mad - but I had vision, and now he knows it was right! The first marketing activity I did was to create a local A5 full colour booklet that was given to mums who had given birth in hospital in Cornwall. The guide covered 'technical' support about breastfeeding such as positioning and attachment information but also at the suggestion of Helen Shanahan I included details about breastfeeding friendly businesses, telling mums where they could go and be welcomed breastfeeding. The initial print run was supported by a £1,500 grant from the Scarman Trust.

What were the next steps?

After launching the first guide we decided to go for a Lottery Grant for an ambitious £250,000. In order to go for the grant we had to incorporate the company and appoint a Board of Directors and register as a not-for-profit organisation. This was a big step and really moved the company on. Although we weren't successful in the bid and lost out at the last stage it did change my perception of the company and made it into a real business. The directors of the company are all parents themselves and we work remotely, coming together for meetings. I love the fact that we are all able to work, but also be committed to our families.

How did you spread the Real Baby Milk message around the county?

I began working closely with the Primary Care Trust and Hospitals and we now have established fantastic links within the health community. We were lucky to have great support from midwives and doctors right from the start and without their help wouldn't have been able to reach the women we wanted to help. We took a stand at the Royal Cornwall Show and created a breastfeeding friendly area - this has grown every year. We now also train peer supporters and help people to set up their own local breastfeeding groups.

Are there plans to spread the word outside Cornwall?

Yes! We are in talks with other Primary Care Trusts around the UK and have recently been commissioned to produce information for organisations outside of Cornwall. In conjunction with UNICEF we've produced a new poster promoting breastfeeding which has been sent to health professionals - it's been fantastic as it features 'real women' breastfeeding rather than models.

We've also had huge success with a Breastfeeding DVD called 'Breastfeeding, For Mums, by Mums' that we created. It shows really positive images of women breastfeeding, explains the benefits of skin-to-skin contact and contains a step-by-step guide to positioning and attachment. It has been a huge success and has spread the word about Real Baby Milk across the UK. We've reached a lot of people very quickly and this has given us real confidence to move the business forward.

What are your future plans?

On the back of the DVD success, we are going to take the Real Baby Milk brand national in 2008. We are currently working on a funding bid as part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust's initiative to 'Reduce Childhood Obesity'. If we are successful this will give us the funds to create a hub office (rather than working from my home office), employ admin support and a midwife. We'd like to support women and their families in breastfeeding across the board, educating them and particularly combating the 6-8 week drop-off period which is when most women give up breastfeeding.

If we aren't successful in this funding bid then we still plan to take the brand national! We are going to be launching more local area breastfeeding guides which will be given out in hospitals and eventually hope to have them in every post-natal ward in the UK. We know they make a huge difference as since our launch the breastfeeding rate in Cornwall has increased.

We've also recently been asked by the Department of Health to organise their South West Regional Breastfeeding Conference for health professionals in October - excellent proof that the Real Baby Milk message is really working.

Find out more about Real Baby Milk - (www.realbabymilk.org)