World Breastfeeding Awareness Week

Every year, we celebrate Breastfeeding Awareness Week to highlight the critical importance of breastfeeding for both mothers and their babies. This week is a time to spread awareness about the numerous benefits breastfeeding provides, from essential nutrients and antibodies for infants to reduced health risks for mothers.

Our library is dedicated to supporting breastfeeding mothers and their families. We offer a wealth of resources on breastfeeding.

During this week, let’s come together to support and encourage breastfeeding mothers. Whether through providing accurate information, or simply offering a listening ear, each of us can make a difference.

Centre for Mental Health

Recent reports

More than the sum of our parts: an evaluation of local mental health alliances.


The voluntary sector plays a vital role in supporting people with mental health difficulties. Yet, insecure funding and a lack of meaningful collaboration can inhibit voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations from providing the mental health support that people depend on. This report explores how bringing together local stakeholders – including VCSE organisations, NHS commissioners and providers of health and social care, and experts by experience – can lead to more effective and equitable support for people living with a mental illness.

CentreforMH_MoreThanTheSumOfOurParts.pdf (centreformentalhealth.org.uk)

A dual crisis: the hidden link between poverty and children’s mental health


This report explores the impact of poverty and benefit conditionality on families’ mental health. Based on research with parents and children, and a review of the evidence, it finds that money and mental health are inextricably linked; not having enough money leads to parental stress and guilt, which has a knock-on impact on children over the course of their lives. And with rates of poverty twice as high among Asian and Black families than white families, some children are ‘overexposed’ to the dual risks of poverty and poor mental health.

CentreforMH_ADualCrisis.pdf (centreformentalhealth.org.uk)

Unicef publishes guide to supporting mental health in infancy and beyond

Unicef UK has published a resource to guide to support service leaders, commissioners and policy teams to develop a whole-system approach to support the mental health of babies and young children and enable them to develop the capacities to be mentally healthy throughout their lives. Uniced say it acknowledges that it can be harder for professionals to work together to promote and protect mental health at this life stage, as understanding varies across sectors and suggests practical steps to help all services play their role and work together.
Understanding and supporting mental health in infancy and early childhood: a toolkit to support local action in the UK