15 May 2025

We are delighted to celebrate a landmark year of achievements, with teams across Maternity, Neonatal, Health Visiting and Family Nursing services, in conjunction with the Infant Feeding Team and Public Health, all receiving UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) awards. The awards were given in recognition of our commitment to best practice in infant feeding and parent-infant relationships.

The Baby Friendly Initiative is a global programme led by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) and recognises excellence in supporting families with feeding and developing close, loving relationships to give babies the best start in life.

Janet Dalzell from UNICEF UK visited Borders General Hospital to present the awards, with achievements spanning across multiple departments:

  • September 2024: NHS Borders Health Visiting and Family Nursing Partnership teams were awarded the prestigious BFI Gold Award, highlighting the embedding of Baby Friendly standards across community services. This achievement reflects a consistent rise in exclusive breastfeeding rates, with NHS Borders having the second highest breastfeeding rates in Scotland at both 14 days and 6 weeks postnatal.
  • November 2024: The Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) achieved Stage 3 BFI accreditation following outstanding feedback from parents, with the unit scoring 100% in 13 out of 15 key assessment areas. This means that SCBU is the highest scoring unit in Scotland and one of the highest in the UK. The team is now preparing for Gold Accreditation in 2026.
  • December 2024: NHS Borders Maternity Services achieved the highest level of UNICEF BFI recognition: Achieving Sustainability at Gold Standard. Building on the initial Gold Award in 2020, the service has continued to improve year-on-year and was commended for skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding initiation.


These achievements reflect the dedication of staff across both the hospital and community settings, and their commitment to improving outcomes for women, babies and families. Our focus will remain on sustaining these standards through ongoing education, service development and by listening to the voices of parents and carers.

Sarah Horan, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals at NHS Borders, said: “It was a pleasure to come together to celebrate these outstanding achievements with our staff. These awards are a testament to the unwavering commitment of our teams across NHS Borders to provide a high standard of care to women, babies and families.

“Being recognised by UNICEF at this level reflects years of dedication, collaboration and commitment to the common goal of giving every baby in the Borders the best possible start in life. I am incredibly proud of the professional and compassionate care our staff give every single day.”