Baby Grow
Baby Grow by #Breastival (previously known as Baby Space) was a project that we kick started in February 2020. Baby Grow was initially a physical space in Connswater Shopping Centre, but developeed into facilitating support and social events online.
Our goal was to create an online space where parents coulf drop-in to feed, find support, chat with other parents and feel connected to a community.
What was Baby Grow?
Baby Grow was about building a community for new parents and to assist new families to build networks in the context of normalising breastfeeding. All parents and families are welcome in the Baby Grow. It is distinctive to current provision in that an emphasis is upon welcoming breastfeeding parents and supporting community integration.Baby Grow was designed to be within an accessible space and our mission was to assist pregnant and new mothers, new parents and families to adapt to motherhood and parenthood and especially to breastfeed their babies. Baby Grow values breastfeeding and understands the important role it plays in supporting health and well-being but recognises that many women still face barriers. Baby Grow aims to address these barriers through community and network building. Breastfeeding is not the responsibility of individual women, but the responsibility of the whole of society. Baby Grow is an innovative intervention aimed at community building to encourage and inform women and families.
Before Baby Space had to temporarily close in March 2020 we had been offering a number of different activities including the Sling Library who provide advice on babywearing to cloth nappies and NCT breastfeeding counsellors. Baby Space also saw breastfeeding peer supporters provide a Monday drop in and it hosted speakers on sleep, birth and how to overcome challenges feeding.
We hope to get Baby Grow as a physical space back up and running as soon as it is safe for our volunteers and service users, however thanks to Community Foundation NI and the Department for Communities we were able to recruit an Online Co-Ordinator who is working to provide support on a digital platform.
This Project has now ended.
We hope to get Baby Grow as a physical space back up and running as soon as it is safe for our volunteers and service users, however thanks to Community Foundation NI and the Department for Communities we were able to recruit an Online Co-Ordinator who is working to provide support on a digital platform.
This Project has now ended.
