As a working mother of two children, Jessi Jones was aware of the difficulties faced by her colleagues-turned-new-mums working at The James Cook University Hospital, as they had no dedicated spaces to express breastmilk during work hours.
Prior to the opening of the space in March 2025, James Cook did not have a specialised space for staff or visitors who wanted to express breastmilk during working hours.
Staff were offered unoccupied office space or had to use a multi-use room over their lunch breaks. Although a breastfeeding room was available only to patients, there were no designated areas reserved for visitors or staff wishing to breastfeed in privacy.
Since opening to new mums, the lactation suite has been praised for providing a quiet and relaxing space – enabling parents to feed or express with ease and away from the bustling hospital environment.
The bespoke room is equipped with comfortable chairs and dim lighting and provides a peaceful alternative to breastfeeding in public.
A fridge for the storage of expressed breastmilk is also available to support and encourage breastfeeding. There are also art prints, books and comfort items donated to the suite by Jessi, who also recently gave birth to her second baby, Freyja Rose in March.
Jessi has been a passionate advocate for the support of breastfeeding in early childhood development. Breastfeeding has been shown to nurture the parent-infant bonding process, improve both infant and maternal mental health and reduce childhood illness.
The Darlington resident said:
It is so important that our staff and visitors are supported to breastfeed, should they choose to do so. Through speaking to staff who had returned from maternity leave, I understood that there was a need for a calm and relaxing space for new mums to express their breastmilk while not worrying about finding an empty space during work.
“Many had been recommended to find an unused room within the hospital. It’s easy to see how breastfeeding can cease once staff return to work, so something needed to change.
“This motivated me to design and request funding from Our Hospitals Charity for a purpose-built room in which parents can feed their infants or express breastmilk in a safe, supportive and secure environment.”
Head of charities for Our Hospitals Charity Suzanne Mckenna said: “Jessi’s experience has highlighted an unmet need for our staff and visitors and we are delighted to fund the new lactation suite at James Cook.”
The lactation suite is situated near the north entrance at James Cook and is open to new parents, both staff and visitors, 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Jessi, who also works as a volunteer pharmacist for The Breastfeeding Network, added: “We hope that the introduction of the lactation suite will continue to empower our staff and visitors to breastfeed for as long as possible, and will support new families throughout their infant feeding journey.
We kindly ask that all visitors to the lactation suite take care of the room so that we can continue to provide this essential, private space for all our staff and visitors for years to come.”