About Us

The Peer Counsellor Programme (PCP) is a breastfeeding support programme. The PCP was devised by La Leche League International in 1988. It was written specifically for low income minority mothers in the United States, who were clients of Women, Infant, Children (WIC) clinics.
 
The first programme in Great Britain was run as a pilot in Bestwood in Nottingham. It was administered by local La Leche League leaders on a very small budget with funds provided by Nottingham Health Authority. The project resulted in greater awareness of breastfeeding and an increase in both incidence and duration of breastfeeding in the area. Nottingham Health Authority has supported and funded programmes throughout the city since that time. As news of the success of these programmes spread we realised there was a need to provide a training course to enable health professionals to administer Peer Counsellor Programme in England, Scotland and Wales and 150 are still active.
Other organisations and groups run Peer Counsellor Programmes and the La Leche League Programme differs in five main ways:
•         La Leche League runs a nationally coordinated programme
•         We use a ‘cascade’ model where La Leche League trains health professionals, who then train mums
•         Monitoring and evaluation are part of the programme
•         La Leche League provides follow on support for three years
•         It is a mothering model which assumes breastfeeding will work and therefore covers breastfeeding for however long it happens including ending breastfeeding.
 
Aims
•         To increase the incidence and duration of breastfeeding in targeted communities
•         To increase the knowledge of how breastfeeding meets both the nutritional and emotional needs of babies
•         To increase the support for breastfeeding in targeted communities
 
Objectives
To encourage mothers in the targeted community to;
•         Breastfeed their babies with no supplementation
•         Introduce solids at the optimal time
•         Be able to breastfeed for as long as they want
•         Set up ongoing support for breastfeeding mothers
 
Methods
Prepare health professionals* who share the same goals to
•         Train local mothers with breastfeeding experience to help other mothers learn about breastfeeding their babies and
•         Set up ongoing support programmes in local communities for local breastfeeding mothers
•         * Our criteria for a ‘health professional’ is someone employed within the target area, who is able to work with and deliver this programme.