Kia Ora Southern Breastfeeding Mums – do we have something for you!

What is it?

The BURP (Breastfeeding’s Ultimate Refuel Place) is the perfect companion for breastfeeding mums, navigating you to the closest breastfeeding friendly venue when out and about in Southland and Otago.

How does it work?

You will be directed to the nearest breastfeeding friendly cafe, restaurant, museum or library to name a few, via an easy map pinpoint through your smartphone. Photos of the premise, opportunity for feedback on your experience and additional information such as whether the premise has a toilet, change table, toy box or high chair will also be included.

This must-have app is free to download, easy to use (even with one hand while juggling baby and bags!) and proves particularly useful when in an unfamiliar town.

Why a breastfeeding friendly facility app?

Life doesn’t stop when you have a baby, shopping and jobs still need to be completed in addition to enjoying what your town has to offer. In amongst this, your child still needs to be fed, and the easier this is the better!

Supportive breastfeeding environment

Though it is your human right to breastfeed your child anytime, anywhere the BURP app was developed to help increase the confidence of the breastfeeding mother to feed in public. Whether you are a first time mum or you (and your little one!) just need your morning tea fix fast, to go somewhere which has staff and a supportive breastfeeding environment can help make it an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Social Connectedness

We also acknowledge the big transition that comes with having children and the mental health benefits of doing the things you enjoyed prior to having children – meeting up with friends, dining out or visiting public places – so we envision this app will also make it easier to connect with your community.

Healthy Mum & Child

Breastfeeding has health benefits for both mother and baby. The World Health Organisation recommends that babies should be breastfed exclusively for the first six months and up to two years and beyond. We envisage that through public facilities being breastfeeding friendly will aid mothers to breastfeed for longer.

Normalise Breastfeeding

A key objective for the Southern District Health Board and WellSouth Primary Health Network is to normalise breastfeeding and the introduction of the BURP app does this in three ways by:

  • Instilling confidence in the mother to breastfeed in public
  • Increasing staff awareness and support for breastfeeding at participating venues and promoting a conducive breastfeeding environment
  • Increased exposure of breastfeeding in public resulting in it being accepted as ‘unremarkably normal’ by all

We would like to thank the participating venues for being part of this venture and their commitment to creating healthy communities through breastfeeding, today and in the future.