Integrated Early & Infant Feeding Peer Support Service (Universal plus Charedi)

Description

The London Borough of Hackney intends to recommission an Integrated Early & Infant Feeding Peer Support Service (Universal plus Charedi) for the anticipated period 1 July 2026 to 31 March 2029, delivered through Best Start Family Hubs and integrated with maternity and community health pathways. The service provides peer-led, preventative, and culturally responsive support from early pregnancy through the postnatal period, with a focus on improving early access to maternity care, supporting infant feeding outcomes, and reducing health inequalities. The commissioned service comprises currently of three strands: Strand 1: Infant Feeding Peer Support Service Strand 2: Charedi Infant Feeding Peer Support Service Strand 3: Charedi Early Pregnancy Engagement Service Strand 1 A universal service with targeted, culturally responsive elements, providing peer-led infant feeding support from birth through the early postnatal period. The service supports breastfeeding initiation, continuation, and sustainability, delivers practical and emotional peer support across maternity and community settings, aligns with UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards and includes dedicated culturally specific provision for communities with identified inequalities, including Charedi families. Strand 2 – Charedi Infant Feeding Peer Support Service This is a culturally responsive targeted universal service, providing peer-led infant feeding support from birth through the early postnatal period. The service supports breastfeeding initiation, continuation, and sustainability by offering timely, practical, and emotionally supportive peer support across maternity, community, outreach, and home-based settings. Delivery is aligned with UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative standards and MSA Core and Go-Further requirements. Strand 3 – Charedi Early Pregnancy Engagement Service A targeted service commissioned exclusively for Charedi women, designed to address evidenced inequalities in early access to maternity care. The service supports early engagement with maternity services (including timely antenatal booking by 10 weeks), provides antenatal and postnatal education and information, supports informed choice and navigation of maternity pathways, and enables early identification of need and referral. This strand is not intended to provide borough-wide early engagement activity. The Council anticipates appointing a single lead provider responsible for delivery and performance across all strands. Providers are expected to demonstrate strong cultural competence and partnership working, including the ability to work with or subcontract to trusted Charedi community organisations where appropriate. This PIN is issued for transparency only and does not constitute the start of a procurement. Due to tight timescales linked to service continuity and grant requirements and, at this stage, any information gathered through the pre-market engagement may inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future tender evaluation exercise. The Council reserves the right to amend the scope, timetable, or procurement approach subject to governance, funding, and statutory requirements Please register your company on the London Tender's Portal so when the opportunity goes live you can apply mid March 2026 This is not a call for competition. Keywords: Infant feeding, Early, Peer Support