RBM founder, Arwen talking at the 2012 conference
Mission & Aims
Our Vision is a world in which breastfeeding is the cultural norm.
We have two overarching aims which runs through everything we do:
-
To empower families with fantastic, evidence based information and support
-
Protect, promote and support breastfeeding
We do this by:
Producing information and resources for families, peer supporters, health professionals, children centres and businesses.
We have three principles:
1) Keep it Local
We work with local mums, health professionals, and businesses as we know having access to support nearby can be crucial to families.
2) Sustainable
We work efficiently, innovatively and resourcefully to ensure we will be here next year and the year after and the year after…
3) Mum to mum support
Real Baby Milk is by mums, for mums. We are also supported by Health Professionals in order to provide the fantastic, evidence-based information to share with families.
History
Arwen Folkes had a difficult start to breastfeeding and subsequently trained as a peer supporter. It was through meeting women and health professionals at the Sure Start support group that Arwen identified the need for a brand for breastfeeding and easy access to support and information. As a result, Arwen started Real Baby Milk as a voluntary project during her maternity leave in 2005. The project began with a £1500 Community Champions grant in November 2005 and launched in it’s pilot area, Cornwall, in May 2006. The company was incorporated and a Board of Directors formed on October 11th 2006.
Below are some photos from the launch of the Real Baby Milk’s Essential Guide, the first one for Cornwall.
Real Baby Milk now produces essential guides for many local areas including Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Middlesex and North Tees. We also produce a generic version for all areas.
Real Baby Milk is run by a small board of directors. If you have something helpful or important to add and are interested in becoming a board member or director, please contact us at admin@realbabymilk.org
WHO Code
The WHO Code (World Health Organization) of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent WHA Resolutions, the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding and the Conventions on the Rights of the Child support the exclusion of those employed by breastmilk substitute manufacturers from providing infant feeding education. The work we do is for those who work in a Code compliant way to support public health. We choose to exclude those who work for infant feeding companies from events or from purchasing our not for profit resources. You can read more information about the WHO Code here.