Breastfeeding support services
Breastfeeding gives your baby the best possible start as breastmilk provides a lot more than just nourishment, it acts as both food and medicine due to special components which helps to boost your child’s immune system.
While breastfeeding is natural, it is also a learned skill and within the Northern Trust a wide range of support is available for local families.
Breastfeeding support groups
Face to face breastfeeding support groups within your local area are provided by our SureStart and our Health Visiting Services.
Ballymena and Little Steps SureStart (Ballymena group)
St Josephs SureStart Centre, 90 Doury Road, Ballymena, BT43 6JE
First Thursday of the month from 10am-12pm
Contact 028 2564 2883 or Ballymena.LittleStepsSS@actionforchildren.org.uk
Ballymena and Little Steps SureStart (Antrim group)
Faranshane House, 1 Ballygore Road, Antrim, BT41 2NR
Second and fourth Monday of the month from 10am-12pm
Contact 028 9446 9644 or Ballymena.LittleStepsSS@actionforchildren.org.uk
Ballymena and Little Steps SureStart (Ballykeel)
Unit 25, Ballykeel Business Care, Ballymena, BT42 4DN
Third Thursday of every month, 10.00-12 noon
Contact the Infant Feeding Team on 028 256 42883 email: Ballymena.LittleStepsSS@actionforchildren.org.uk
Ballymena
West Church, 19 Ballymoney Road, Ballymena, BT43 5BS
Second and fourth Thursday of the month from 10.30am-12pm
Contact Health Visiting Team – 02825635353 or 02825635235
Dalriada Rural Surestart Bushmills
88 Main Street, Bushmills, BT57 8QD
First and third Monday of the month from 10am-12pm
Contact 02820730444 or adminDRSS@northerntrust.hscni.net
Dalriada Rural Surestart Ballycastle
55-57 Leyland Road, Ballycastle BT54 6EZ
Second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 10am-12pm
Contact 028 2073 0444 or adminDRSS@northerntrust.hscni.net
Gold SureStart Cookstown
18 – 24 Loy Street, Cookstown, BT80 8PE
Every Wednesday from 10am-12pm
Contact 028 8676 9994
Horizon Surestart Carrickfergus
Horizon breastfeeding group
First and third Wednesday of each month from 11:00-12 noon
North Coast
Portrush Medical Centre, Dunluce Avenue, Portrush, BT56 8DW
Second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 10am-11.30am
Contact Health Visitor on 02870822423 or 02870834264
Coleraine SureStart Partnership
34C Society Street, Coleraine BT52 1LA
Every Thursday from 11am-12.30pm
Contact 028 7032 1032
Bosom Buddies Abbey SureStart
440 Shore Road, Newtownabbey BT37 9RU
Every Monday from 10am-11.30am
Contact 028 7032 1032
Glengormley
Glengormley Community Services Centre, 40 Carnmoney Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 6HP
Second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 11am – 12pm
Contact Health visiting team 02890831502
Magherafelt
Magherafelt Baptist Church, 6 Ballyronan Road, Magherafelt BT45 6BP
Every Monday from 10am-12pm
Contact 028 8676 9994
Kilrea and Garvagh
Kilrea Health Centre, 36 Garvagh Rd, Kilrea BT51 5QP
First and third Monday of each month from 10am – 12pm
Contact Health Visiting on 028 2954 2275 or 028 2955 6494
Larne
Larne Health Centre, Gloucester Avenue, Larne BT40 1PB
Second and fourth Thursday of every month from 10.30am – 12.30pm
Contact Health Visiting Team 02828261936
Ballymoney
Connect Centre, 2-10 Model School Road, Ballymoney
Every second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 10am – 12pm
Contact 028 2766 0311 / 028 2766 0345
Whitehead
17B Edward Rd, Whitehead, Carrickfergus BT38 9RU
Last Tuesday of the month from 11am – 12pm
Contact 028 9337 0707
Northern Ireland support groups
Specialist breastfeeding support
For families facing more complex feeding challenges, a dedicated specialist breastfeeding support service is accessible via referral from health professionals such as health visitors, midwives, SureStart leads, GPs and paediatricians.
This specialist support service is provided by Infant Feeding Leads within the Maternity and Health Visiting services. The Infant Feeding Leads providing this service are also International Board Certified lactation Consultants (IBCLC’s).
UNICEF Baby friendly accreditation
The Northern Trust actively promotes and supports breastfeeding and has been Gold UNICEF UK Baby Friendly accreditted since 2018.
This award recognises the excellent level of care, knowledge, skill and support provided by our maternity and health visiting services, who are all highly trained in breastfeeding and infant feeding.
Our neonatal unit and Sure Start services as also both fully accredited by the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative.
Every family in the Northern Trust is allocated a midwife and health visitor who can be contacted for additional infant feeding support by face to face or telephone.
Antenatal breastfeeding workshops
The infant feeding coordinators are hosting breastfeeding workshops to assist you in your breastfeeding journey. You and your partner can attend from 36 weeks gestation.
This is a two-hour, group-based class delivered via virtual platform (MS Teams) or face to face. Face-to-face workshops area held in Maternity Outpatients 4 (OPD4) at Antrim Area Hospital. Partners are welcome to attend.
You will need to book your place on these classes, as spaces are limited. Please send your name, due date and hospital number by email to: BreastFeedingWorkshop@northerntrust.hscni.net
If you are unable to attend, a breastfeeding workshop provided by Dorset Healthcare can be watched at your own convenience dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/breastfeedingcourse.
Breastfeeding peer support service
The peer support volunteers who provide the breastfeeding peer support service are a group of local mothers who are trained by our Infant Feeding Leads. This enables them to offer encouragement and support to other mothers. By sharing their own skills and experiences, peer mums can help breastfeeding mothers to overcome many problems with breastfeeding and encourage them to discuss any concerns they may have.
Support is provided by phone or text messages and is available outside times health professionals traditionally are.
Consent for this service is obtained via the breastfeeding Peer Support Link who can put mothers in touch with a peer volunteer, who will then make contact to introduce themselves and provide their contact details.
Referral for this service can also accessed through midwives and health visitors, or you can contact Jayne Calderwood, Peer Support Link worker on 07500891884.
Tongue tie assessment service/breastfeeding assessment clinic
Some babies are born with a tight piece of skin between the underside of their tongue and the bottom of their mouth (lingual frenulum), this is known as a tongue-tie. The presence of a tongue-tie may not affect your baby at all, however, some babies may have difficulty feeding.
Tongue tie assessments are provided at specialist feeding clinics held by the infant feeding leads in the Maternity Service at Antrim Area Hospital. Referrals to these clinics are made via health visitors and midwives following the completion of a detailed breastfeeding assessment with implementation of appropriate feeding support.
Not all babies with a tongue tie require treatment, and help with positioning and attachment can resolve feeding issues in many cases. If you have concerns regarding feeding and a potential tongue tie, please speak to your midwife/health visitor for further assessment and support.
Breast pump loan services
TinyLife offers breast pump loans to support the feeding of premature or unwell babies in the Northern Trust area.
If your baby fits this criteria, you can access a pump loan from TinyLife by speaking to the Neonatal Unit staff or by completing the Tiny Life referral form available at:
We also have a community based breast pump loan scheme for families facing feeding challenges. Breast pump loans can be accessed through health visitors, midwives and infant feeding leads as part of an ongoing feeding plan.
