Lancashire's children's centres have been recognised with a prestigious award for the high standard of care they provide to new mums and children.

The centres, which are run by Lancashire County Council and the health visiting service, which is provided by Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, have each been awarded the Baby Friendly accreditation.

Local peer support teams, where volunteer mothers are trained to support others with breastfeeding, were also recognised with this award.

The Baby Friendly Initiative, run by Unicef and the World Health Organisation, is a global programme which helps health services to improve the infant feeding support provided for mothers and babies.

In the UK, the initiative works with public services to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and to strengthen mother-baby and family relationships.

The accolade recognises the high level of support in Lancashire and the positive comments from mothers who use the facilities, with 94% of them being happy with the service.

County Councillor Azhar Ali, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: "It's great that our children's centres have been recognised with the prestigious Unicef Baby Friendly Award.

"We decided to sign up to Unicef UKs Baby Friendly Initiative to increase breastfeeding rates and to improve care for all mothers at our centres.

"Breastfeeding protects babies against a wide range of serious illnesses including gastroenteritis and respiratory infections in infancy as well as asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life.

"We also know that breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of some cancers so it's important we give new mums all the support they need if they choose to breastfeed.

"We work very closely with the local NHS care trusts, health visitors and local breastfeeding support services who do a superb job supporting mothers in the community. Congratulations to everyone involved for achieving this award."

The county council delivers the support for new mothers in children's centres in partnership with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Katie Wharton, infant feeding coordinator for Lancashire Care, said: "The Baby Friendly accreditation is great news for babies being born in Lancashire.

"The Lancashire Care Infant Feeding Team will continue to support the workforce to maintain the high standards required to ensure families receive the support and information required for their long term wellbeing.”