This month Maidstone Birth Centre have been celebrating the first birthday of their Newborn Café, providing feeding support to new parents in the local area. The café was launched during World Breastfeeding Week in 2023 and has so far supported hundreds of local parents and caregivers to achieve their feeding goals in the first few weeks of having a baby.

Run by a team of midwives, maternity support workers, infant feeding and tongue tie specialists and peer supporters, the café offers a relaxed environment for new parents to pop in and have a cup of tea, while getting advice and support from our team of experts. It’s also the perfect place to meet other parents to chat with, and share tips, stories and ideas.

Maternity Support Worker, Jenny Riley, who runs the café, said: “We’ve created such a fantastic community of new parents over the past year, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to grow in the future. Whether you’re looking for specific advice about a feeding problem, or just want a bit of moral support from parents who are at a similar stage with their newborns, we are here. Everyone is welcome.”

The café is free to attend and takes place every Tuesday at Maidstone Birth Centre (part of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and based at Maidstone Hospital) between 9.30am-12.30pm, offering feeding support for babies up to 12 weeks old. Partners, friends and older siblings are welcome, and there’s no need to pre-book.