“I was really, really grateful for that help. It would have been very easy for me to give up on the journey, but I had that support there, that’s the reason why I kept going.”
19:22, 02 Aug 2025Updated 19:23, 02 Aug 2025
A Belfast mum has opened up on her breastfeeding journey so far as part of World Breastfeeding Week.
It comes as Belfast Trust is celebrating its Mum to Mum Breastfeeding Peer Support Service. This is a volunteer service run by the breastfeeding specialist team, with 670 mothers engaging in the service last year.
The Trust said: “Mums who have previously breastfed are helping new mums with their breastfeeding journey and to boost breastfeeding rates in Northern Ireland.”
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New mum Danielle McVeigh had her baby Frankie nearly four months ago. Speaking to Belfast Live, the mum-of-one said she was open to the idea of breastfeeding when she was pregnant with her son. She told: “I thought ‘I’ll give it a go’, like it was so easy…. But then whenever he was born, I had a real strong urge that I really wanted to breastfeed.
“I had some lovely support in the hospital, but obviously they’ve got limited time… They mentioned the Infant Feeding Team when I was there, and then it wasn’t too long after I was out of hospital that they got in touch with me, which was amazing.
“That kind of cemented me really wanting to keep going because there were people there to help. I exclusively breastfeed, at the minute I’m exclusively pumping. I really want to get him latching on again – to nurse – but it’s still breastfeeding. There’s still support needed, even four months on.”
Danielle added: “When he was born, he wasn’t latching very well, and I needed help to get him to latch. He was a lot smaller, so I’m finding that the positions that I’m needing to use are so different from when he was born… This is why I’m still needing help. He’s quite refluxy, so I needed help with getting medication for him. And then at that stage it was easier for me to pump, and that’s how I came off the nursing journey as such, but now that that’s a lot better I do need help to get him back on nursing again.
“The Peer Support Service was amazing. They got in touch with me very shortly after I got back from the hospital, and I just found that they were like the sticky plaster, the bridge between being in hospital and getting the support from the Infant Feeding Team.
“Really friendly girls, literally couldn’t couldn’t do enough for me. I was really, really grateful for that help. It would have been very easy for me to give up on the journey, but I had that support there, that’s the reason why I kept going. It just feels lovely to be able to do this for my wee Frankie…. it’s been amazing so far.”
Danielle also gave some advice for other mums who want to breastfeed or are starting their journey.
“My advice for new mothers would be to get help. It’s not an easy journey at all. You really do need the help of other women, and men too, men definitely have their part to play, but you need help. You can’t suffer this on your own, and it’s not a natural sort of process. You do need to work hard at it sometimes. Go to your groups, contact the Infant Feeding Team, and enjoy the wild ride.”
Naomie Farrell, Infant Feeding Lead, with Danielle and Frankie(Image: Harry Bateman/Belfast Live)
Naomie Farrell, Infant Feeding Lead said: “It is important to recognise that breastfeeding may not look the same for everyone, and may not come naturally for a range of reasons, but ultimately I would like to encourage mums to not suffer silence. Reach out and ask for support. There is a wealth of support out there from health professionals and ‘mum to mum’ ready and willing to help.”
Speaking to Belfast Live, she added: “[The Peer Support Service] is telephone or text message support. It would be anything from ‘you’re doing great, keep going’, to maybe some information about hand expressing, position attachment if they’re having a wee bit of nipple pain, and maybe they want some information on pumping, going back to work, navigating feeding out and about…
“The benefit to that is it’s outside health professionals’ working hours as well, so it’s available in the evenings, weekends, round the clock. Mums really appreciate just having a wee friend at the end of the phone.”
Naomie continued: “The benefits to breastfeeding are huge. Basically in terms of mum’s health, you have reduction in breast cancer, you have reduction in ovarian cancer, it promotes good maternal mental health, and then for baby, it really helps to reduce the likeliness of childhood illnesses such as ear infections, chest infections, gastroenteritis. Ultimately I suppose for both mum and baby, it really promotes those really loving relationships.
Naomie Farrell, Infant Feeding Lead at the Belfast Trust(Image: Harry Bateman/Belfast Live)
“It’s common in today’s society that we get overwhelmed with what expectations we should be having as mummies, like making sure the house is clean, making sure we’re out and about, making sure we’re snapping back, but that is absolutely not what we want to be encouraging, especially for breastfeeding mums. All your baby needs is you basically in those early weeks.”
Peer support volunteer Katie O’Tool said: “The way the service for me as a volunteer works is I’ll receive a text from one of the Infant Feeding Team Leads. It will just have a mum’s name and phone number and as soon as I get that, I’ll send them a wee message… introducing myself, letting them know who I am, my role as a breastfeeding support volunteer.
“I think the biggest thing for us is that we are someone that you can talk to. We’re an ear, it doesn’t matter whether it’s about breastfeeding or just the early days in general, it’s just really important to have that support system.
“If you don’t have somebody to lean on and talk to, your mind can get really messy and, you know, it can kind of stop you from progressing forward with your breastfeeding journey.
“I let women know – any day, time, holiday, Christmas Day.. please text me if there’s something that’s on your mind, if you have a question, get in contact.
“If I can’t help you, I will do absolutely everything I can to find someone that will help.”
In a statement, Belfast Trust said: “Breastfeeding helps improve babies’ immune system and can help prevent conditions for the mother – that in turn can reduce pressure for the health service.
“Unicef UK estimates that supporting more women to breastfeed could save the NHS £11m every year by preventing infections and £31m by reducing the risk of breast cancer in women.
“Belfast Trust’s Health Visitor service has recently achieved the prestigious UNICEF Baby Friendly GOLD award.
“This UNICEF award recognises that the service has demonstrated sustained and excellent support for breastfeeding, and parent and child relationships.”
Video by Belfast Live Videographer Harry Bateman.
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