NEW mums are being encouraged to feed their babies the natural way in a campaign by local midwives.

Gayle Nayor, head of Bolton midwifery, says the makers of artificial baby milk have been stopped from promoting their products in the town's maternity unit to encourage new mums to breastfeed.

The Princess Anne Maternity Unit is striving to get a certificate from UNICEF in its commitment to promote breastfeeding.

In Bolton, 57 per cent of all babies are breastfed, seven per cent above the national average.

However, some new mothers are still too embarrassed to feed their babies in public, Margaret Osbourne from the Bolton Primary Care Trust, claims.

Mrs Osbourne said: "There are still many taboos and we need to educate all generations about the health benefits."

The theme of National Breastfeeding Week, which runs this week, is that mother's milk is the perfect take-away.

Caroline Ashton, chairman of Bolton's Joint Breastfeeding Initiative Group, said: "It is recommended that babies should be breastfed until they are at least until six months old."