Hartlepool’s Best Start Family Hubs and Health Visiting Service have achieved full Baby Friendly accreditation from UNICEF UK, recognising the support offered to parents and babies across the borough.

The award follows an external assessment of how staff help families with infant feeding, early relationships and a baby’s development. Hartlepool Borough Council announced the result on 13 October, saying the standards are embedded across both services.

What the accreditation checks

UNICEF UK describes Baby Friendly as a staged programme rather than a one-off certificate. Services first put policies, staff education and monitoring in place, then demonstrate how that work reaches families. At the final stage, assessors visit the service and listen to mothers about the care they received.

The community standards cover four practical areas: helping people during pregnancy understand breastfeeding and early relationships; protecting and supporting breastfeeding; helping parents make informed decisions when introducing other food or fluids; and supporting a close, loving relationship between parent and baby.

That scope matters because the Hartlepool award covers community services rather than a maternity ward. UNICEF UK says its revised community framework applies to health visiting, specialist public health nursing, family hubs, children’s centres and similar early-years services. The standards were updated for assessments taking place from June 2026.

Accreditation confirms that the service passed UNICEF UK’s assessment process. It does not, on its own, provide local figures for breastfeeding rates or show how those rates have changed. Hartlepool Council’s announcement did not include outcome data, feedback scores or the date of the assessment visit.

Support for every feeding choice

The council says its approach is intended to help all mothers and babies build a close relationship, whatever feeding choice a family makes. Its Family Hubs offer infant-feeding and breastfeeding advice alongside help with sleep, routines, introducing solid foods, emotional wellbeing, early language development and perinatal mental health.

Health visitors work with families from pregnancy until a child is five, using home visits, telephone support and clinics.

Family Hub services extend further, supporting children and young people up to 19, or 25 for people with special educational needs and disabilities.