Assessors have praised Cornwall's Health Visitors in a new report, which looks at the support given to new mothers.

The inspectors said the service, which is now part of Cornwall Council's Together for Families, showed that pregnant women and new mothers received a high standard of care across Cornwall.

The Baby Friendly Initiative was set up by Unicef and the World Health Organisation and is a global programme aimed at providing a practical, and effective way for local services to improve the care for mothers and babies.

Cabinet Member for Children, Wellbeing and Public Health, Sally Hawken, said: "This is fantastic recognition of the work being done here in Cornwall to support new mums and their babies.

"Babies don't come with a manual, so having the support of an experienced and understanding health visiting team can make all the difference; they can answer questions and take away some of the stress."

Sally Hawken, added: "One of our aims is to ensure children receive the best start in life, and supporting families at the start of their journey is one of the keys to ensuring this happens. I think this award means so much because it is based on feedback from mums."

The results of the survey also showed that mothers also thought the staff were kind, considerate and giving the appropriate information to support families in feeding and caring for their babies.

Cornwall's Health Visiting service has been accredited as 'Baby Friendly' since 2012, one of the first services in the South West to gain this recognition from the international programme.

Infant Feeding Coordinator at Cornwall Council, Stephanie Heard, said: "I am absolutely thrilled for the team to be recognised for their hard work and dedication to the mums of Cornwall. We have a great team who are all extremely focused on the wellbeing of mums and their babies."

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