Early Years Newsletter - December 2025

Welcome back to the Early Years newsletter, supporting your work families. Now that we have launched Best Start in Life (BSiL), we are working to update our existing resources so that we can support partners looking to promote healthy early years behaviours, from breastfeeding and introducing solid foods, to home learning environment and parent-infant relationships. 


In this edition we focus on the resources and offer for partners supporting breastfeeding families. This includes various leaflets, posters, digital screens, a noteworthy news item and some handy facts and stats. 


We hope to have re-branded BSiL breastfeeding resources in the New Year (as well as resources for our other topics), but you can still order existing resources for use now - hurry and order fast before stocks run out!

The DHSC Early Years Breastfeeding resources on the Campaign Resource Centre are available in their current form for a few more months. This campaign comprises various breastfeeding guides, wallet cards, posters, social media creatives for both breastfeeding and pregnancy, and the 'easy-read' leaflet we created in collaboration with UNICEF.


If you're in need of printed resources sooner rather than later, please do put an order in as soon as possible.

The Breastfeeding section on the new Best Start in Life website has a comprehensive selection of knowledge and guidance for breastfeeding families, providing NHS-trusted advice on topics such as expressing breastmilk, breastfeeding in public, maintaining a breastfeeding-friendly diet, the many benefits of breastfeeding, returning to work while breastfeeding, and many more.


Please feel free to browse and signpost the site to your families and colleagues alike.

Visit the BSIL Website

Finally, the easy-read 'A guide to help you start breastfeeding' leaflet, created in collaboration with UNICEF, provides mums and parents with key information about breastfeeding. This resource is designed to support audiences with low literacy levels or where English is not a first language.

Download this resource


​The Baby Friendly Initiative also has a wealth of resources to support breastfeeding, available here.
Breastfeeding in the news
On the 4th of November 2025, some valuable breastfeeding stats were released, along with a very positive message. 


The prevalence of breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks in England increased to 55.6% in 2024 to 2025 compared with 52.7% in 2023 to 2024. This is the highest prevalence of breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks reported since 2015 to 2016 when the current data collection began.


Read more

For you

• Many of our Breastfeeding resources have the UNICEF stamp of approval, and all of the resources outlined here are NHS-approved.
  
  
• Parents in the email programme are more likely to say they are doing positive parenting behaviours than parents more generally.
  
  
• Our breastfeeding promotion makes 74% of expectant parents feel reassured to keep going with breastfeeding.

For your families

• Breastmilk is tailor-made for your baby, boosting their ability to fight illness and infection. Source.
  
  
• Breastfeeding lowers your risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, osteoporosis (weak bones), diabetes and cardiovascular disease (conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels). Source.
  
  
• Breast milk is produced on a supply and demand system, so if you're feeding less, you may start producing less milk. Source.

Thank you for your continued support. Please circulate this newsletter to any colleagues or relevant groups and teams that work in early years that would find this information useful, and encourage them to sign up to the Campaign Resource Centre to receive our regular newsletter updates.


We’d love to hear how you’re using the Best Start in Life campaigns to encourage healthier behaviours. You can get in touch and share your activity with us (including photos would be even better!) at [email protected].




Best wishes,


The Partnerships Team