The Greatest Breastfeeding Gig In Europe!

Question: What do the following people have to with breastfeeding?

Rihanna, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Elton John, Tom Jones, Pavarotti, Katy Perry, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Diana Ross, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, The Spice Girls, JLS, One Direction.

Answer: They have all graced the very same stage that will now be home to Europe’s largest conference on infant feeding: The Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative Conference.


As you know, later this year I’ll begin working with Unicef on my PhD study of breast and formula fed babies. Over the last 18-months their convention organising committee visited my neck of the woods several times and on one occasion were even greeted by a flash mob of breastfeeding mamas. Paul Szomoru, head of business tourism at NewcastleGateshead, had a chortle. He said: “If there’s one thing the North East does well, it’s welcoming people!” Dude knows his shit. 

This gig of a lifetime will take place at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, 26-27 November 2014.

I’ll be there signing copies of Breast Intentions, accompanied by Professor Helen Ball. We’ll be hanging out in the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab area. Pop along and hang with us. The conference will showcase a mixture of innovative, entertaining and ‘challenging’ performances on a wide range of breastfeeding issues; everything from how an epidural will impact upon your breastfeeding performance to how oxytocin changes you as a mother (a topic I’m currently writing about).

Just take a gander at the running order:

  • Dr Helen Ball, Head of Anthropology, Durham University – The co-sleeping debate.
  • Ros Bragg, Director, Maternity Action – Employment and breastfeeding compatibility.
  • Dr Kajsa Brimdyr, Lead Ethnographic Researcher, Professor, Healthy Child Project – The first hour after birth: The implications of labour medications.
  • Dr Karin Cadwell, Healthy Children Project – Reaching out to mothers using relational theory.
  • Dr Nikk Conneman Director, Sophia NIDCAP Training Center  - Mentoring caregivers, changing hospitals.
  • Sue Cooper, Infant Feeding Co-ordinator, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Setting up a rapid access clinic.
  • Carmel Duffy, Deputy Programme Director, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative – Responsiveness - what does it really mean?
  • Dr Dan Poulter, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health - Opening address
  • Sally Tedstone, National Breastfeeding Lead, Public Health Wales – Creating supportive environments for breastfeeding.
  • Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg, Professor of Physiology, University of Uppsala – The effect of oxytocin on parent-infant relationships.
  • Laurel Wilson, Author and Executive Director of CAPPA Lactation Programme – Breastfeeding’s impact on the appearance and functioning of DNA: The potential long-term impact on health.
  • Plus stalls and goodies!



That's 2 days, 11 presentations, and 40,000 square feet of lactation loveliness!

Full details, and all that jazz: 

See you there for a bevvy and a chin-wag!


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