Newborn & baby health centre

How you are going to feed your newborn baby is an important decision that should ideally be made before your baby is born. 

Today, most women in England are choosing to breastfeed as there are health benefits for both mother and child.

However, in cases where breastfeeding is not possible, bottle feeding using either expressed breast milk or infant formula milk can be a useful option.

Before deciding to bottle feed your baby you should discuss it with your GP or midwife.

It is important to be aware that if you begin to bottle feed your baby, it can be difficult to switch to breastfeeding if you later decide to change your feeding method.

For more information about bottle feeding, including how to sterilise bottles and store breast milk, overcoming common bottle-feeding problems, and how to make up infant formula, visit the Birth to five section on bottle feeding.