Every year, BfN release a survey to help us see what we are doing well, where we can improve and also give us the evidence we need to help secure future funding. The 2020 survey was launched on 1st March 2020.
Who responded?
- 90% of the responses came from mothers
- 6.5% from Health Professionals and 1.5% from others
- 18% of respondents were supported by the BfN Drugs in Breastmilk Service
- 10.5% from the National Breastfeeding Helpline
- 18% of the responses came from our social media chat support
- Other BfN Project areas also had a high response rate – as expected.
When asked all the ways they had contact with BfN (ticking all that applied) just over half of the mothers (53%) attended a breastfeeding drop in group led by a BfN peer supporter, whilst 34% reported they had used our website for information and another 34% spoke to a Supporter on the telephone. 7% had a visit from a BfN Supporter in hospital (last year it was 12%) but 27% had a home visit – higher than last year’s 12%. 32% of mothers asked for information about Medication/medical intervention and impact on breast milk/ breastfeeding.
As in previous years, we asked a variety of ‘before/after’ questions and were delighted with the answers, which proved the value of peer support. 45% felt confident feeding their baby in public before contact with BfN, rising to 93% after support from BfN. 63% agreed they had the information needed to make decisions about feeding their baby before contact with BfN, rising to 95% after support from BfN. 40% of mums could breastfeed without pain before contacting BfN, increasing to 78% after support from us.
Once again, more than half of the mums questioned (56%) claimed BfN supported them to breastfeed for longer than they otherwise would have done.
Reasons given for this included evidence based information about medication, information about attachment, expressing milk, managing blocked ducts and mastitis, meeting other like-minded mums, knowing what is ‘normal’ new born behaviour and that it is possible and beneficial for older babies and toddler to breastfeed. There were also lots of comments about general support, building confidence and encouragement.
We were delighted to learn that 97% of mothers were satisfied with the support they received from BfN, and 98% would recommend us to family or friends.
We hope these results help to demonstrate how important our services are to families and the community.
Watch the 2020 Evaluation Video
Thank you to everyone who took part in this years survey!
Download the 2020 Evaluation Infographic in PDF
Go to the 2019 Evaluation Survey