Newcastle University

Designed to remove some of the anxiety around breastfeeding in public and help new mums to get out-and-about during those first few months, the new ‘Feed-Finder’ app is used to rate cafes, restaurants and any public places around the world for breastfeeding.

Rated by mums, for mums, each location is assessed according to five key qualities – comfort, hygiene, privacy, baby facilities and affordability.

Dr Madeline Balaam, who created the app with Research Assistant Selina Sutton, PhD student Andy Garbett and undergraduate Edward Jenkins, said the aim was to help make breastfeeding as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Dr Balaam, a computer scientist at Newcastle University with special expertise in interaction design for healthcare, education and wellbeing, came up with the idea while working on a previous project with new mothers learning to breastfeed for the first time.

“The mums I met told me that one of the reasons they were struggling to enjoy breastfeeding was because they found it so isolating.  First time mums in particular felt uncomfortable about feeding in public, they didn’t know where they could go that would be breastfeeding friendly and were anxious about being out and about and the baby suddenly needing to feed and not knowing where to go.

“The aim of the app was to take away some of the worry so mums could continue to get out and meet their friends and do the things they did before baby came along.  The knock-on effect, we hope, is that it helps women to enjoy breastfeeding and continue breastfeeding for longer.”

The ‘Feed-Finder’ app allows user-generated content to be collected and accessed on any smart phone to assist mothers in finding places in public where they are more likely to feel comfortable to breastfeed.

Women can use the app to locate where they are and any places reviewed by other breastfeeding mums will be displayed on the map around her current location.  This includes finding out whether the staff are friendly, or whether there are private areas to breastfeed as well as more practical considerations such as space to put your pram without feeling in the way of other customers.

Along with accessing reviews and ratings provided by other mums, a mum can add her own reviews, or even add a new place to the map should she find a gem of a breastfeeding location that isn't already shared. Feed-Finder has also been designed so that it can be used one-handed during breastfeeding, as well as being very easy and intuitive.