Lockboxes to support staff who are breastfeeding have been installed thanks to support from Derby & Burton Hospitals Charity
As part of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week in August, staff engaged with the hospitals Gender Equality network and Sarah Todd, Network Lead, feeding back that they had found it difficult returning to work whilst still breastfeeding/expressing with a key issue being a lack of storage for expressed milk.
Working together with the Trust and Charity, the network are proud to announce that staff can now loan out ‘lockboxes’ for safe storage of up to 6 bottles of expressed milk in staff fridges.
Amanda Rawlings, Executive Chief People Officer has said “Sadly, we have heard stories of returning staff who have struggled to get support to be able to take a break whilst at work and gain access to suitable space for expressing. As a compassionate and inclusive employer, we expect all leaders and teams to reach out early, welcome their colleagues back to work and enable a breaks and suitable space to express whilst at work.”
The lockboxes can accommodate up to 6 bottles and the network is exploring how staff can obtain additional fridges where their existing staff fridge space isn’t sufficient.
The lockboxes are available from the Equipment Libraries between the hours of 9am and 4pm. Please email dhft.equipmentlibrary1@nhs.net for more details. Lockboxes will be available at both RDH and QHB Equipment Libraries. Instructions on how to lock them are provided with the boxes.
Returning to work mothers can also join a peer support group set up by the Wellbeing Team. Join via the bookwhen page using this link: https://bookwhen.com/jucdwellbeing/e/ev-s0ei-20221027140000
If any staff are struggling with breastfeeding or expressing, support can be found on Neti Breastfeeding (BFI) | z UHDB Intranet
If you would like to give feedback on the boxes, please email uhdb.gendernetwork@nhs.net.
