Healthworks promotes breastfeeding support at Newcastle Upon Tyne event
Healthworks is bringing New Borns, New Norms to Newcastle Upon Tyne on Wednesday June 3, with the event set for 1 Strawberry Lane from 6pm to 7.30pm. The charity says the session is meant for expectant parents and the people closest to them, with breastfeeding support and myth-busting at its centre.
New Borns, New Norms
Jennifer Fowler, a health promotion practitioner at Healthworks, said the event is “an antenatal education session with a bit of a twist.” She said the charity does not only invite expectant parents, but encourages close family and friends to attend too.
Fowler said the session focuses on early infant behaviour and on building a strong bond with a baby from the start. She described it as a friendly, interactive evening with refreshments, giving parents and families a place to share thoughts, ask questions and hear from others in the same stage of life.
Healthworks Best Start
Healthworks, which is based in Newcastle and works across the region, has already used Newcastle City Library in May for a big latch on celebration tied to a global initiative supporting breastfeeding. The charity’s broader Best Start team also supports families with breastfeeding help, including peer support.
Fowler said many parents want to breastfeed but face challenges early on. She said success is more likely when families receive “encouragement, skilled support, and understanding from their community,” adding that community events and peer support matter.
Prof. Michael Marmot
Fowler linked the event to Healthworks Patron Prof. Michael Marmot and to public health research, saying giving children the best start in life has a lifelong impact on health, wellbeing and opportunity. Healthworks says breastfeeding can protect babies from infections, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, obesity, childhood cancers and sudden infant death, while also helping protect mothers from some cancers and heart disease and supporting mental health.
For families in Newcastle, the practical next step is simple: attend the session at 1 Strawberry Lane if they want breastfeeding support and a chance to bring relatives into the conversation. Healthworks is trying to make that support part of the room, not something families look for later on their own.
