Innovating breastfeeding support through hands-free device

Led by Dr Yan-Shing Chang, Lecturer in Child and Family Health for the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, the project is part of the Better Health & Care Hub's Communities and Frugal Innovations clusters.

Despite its many health benefits, the UK has one of the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in the world. Just 1% of babies here were exclusively breastfed at six months, according to the latest available UK-wide Infant Feeding Survey results.

“Breastfeeding is definitely a public health priority,” says Dr Chang. “There are national strategies and initiatives in place, but support needs to be available when and where mothers need it – and that’s not always easy with the current system.”

In partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the team is developing a hands-free, two-way device to improve virtual breastfeeding support. The innovation would be especially important during those early weeks when positioning, latch and reassurance can make all the difference.

As World Health Day 2025 focuses on maternal and newborn health, this project offers a glimpse into what digitally enabled care could look like: rooted in real lives, designed with users, and responsive to family needs.

Listening to families, designing with care

Current virtual solutions often require parents to hold and operate a device while feeding – a difficult task when both hands are full. In surveys conducted by Dr Chang , families and supporters raised common frustrations: poor visibility for assessing latching, awkwardness and stress.

“Our research findings made it very clear: what exists now isn’t good enough,” explains Dr Chang. “Supporters and parents all told us they need something simpler – something that enables the support to focus on the mother and baby, not the technology.”

That insight led the team to focus on hands-free design created through participatory co-design. The project is currently gathering input through interviews with parents and professionals, shaping both the technical specifications and user experience of the device.

Supporting NHS strategies and family wellbeing

The research aligns with the NHS’s utilisation of virtual care models and more efficient, personalised support.

With midwives and health visitors under increasing pressure, technology like this could help prioritise in-person visits for those with the most complex needs – while still offering tailored care remotely.

“This is one of the ways we can support families to breastfeed for as long as they want to,” says Dr Chang. “It fits into the government agenda around reducing health inequalities, improving maternal and child health, and supporting women’s choices.”

The World Health Organization has long emphasised breastfeeding as a key part of maternal and newborn care. The 2025 World Health Day campaign, Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, highlights that over 2 million babies die in their first month of life – many from preventable causes.

Breastfeeding can change these outcomes. It lowers the risk of infection, obesity and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in babies, while reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, ovarian and breast cancers in mothers.

A hopeful future in development

“The Manufacturing Technology Centre brings invaluable expertise,” says Dr Chang. “Their insights help us identify what can be adapted from existing technology and where we need to innovate. This ensures our device is both effective and feasible to produce.”

The team is preparing to produce prototypes to test the device for functionality, ease of use and cultural relevance – key considerations for wider rollout.

“We want to make support easier to access, more comfortable to use, and better suited to what women really need in those early, important days,” says Dr Chang.