Module 10: Breastfeeding arrangements at work

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Maternity Protection Resource Package From
Aspiration to Reality for All
Module 10Breastfeeding arrangements atwork
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Key contents
This module discusses the importance of
breastfeeding, the challenges of continuing
breastfeeding upon return to work, legislation
and practical tools that can help to facilitate
continued breastfeeding for mothers returning to
paid work. It includes the following

• The benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and
  their babies, employers and society
• International standards and national legislation
  supporting breastfeeding for mothers in paid work
• Practical measures for supporting breastfeeding
  for mothers in paid work
• Considerations regarding breastfeeding and HIV
  and the roles that workplace stakeholders can
  play in diminishing the transmission of HIV to
  infants through breastfeeding (PMTCT)

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Advantages and benefits of breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is

• An unequalled way of providing food and care for
  the healthy growth and development of infants and
  young children
• An integral part of the reproductive process with
  important implications for the health of mothers
• Necessary to avoid both short- and long-term
  risks for mothers and children
• An exclusive feeding practice and is a suitable
  option for many HIV-positive mothers, especially
  in the presence of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)

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Breastfeeding after returning to work
Work is one of the main reasons that working
women stop breastfeeding. For many women, the
lack of workplace support for breastfeeding makes
working incompatible with breastfeeding. Yet,
supporting breastfeeding at work

• is a low cost intervention for employers
• involves minimal disruption to the workplace
• brings benefits for employers including

• higher retention rates
• lower employee absenteeism rates on account of
  improved child health
• lower health care costs
• enhanced employee morale and productivity and
  improved company image

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Supporting breastfeeding and work Breastfeeding
breaks
Breastfeeding or nursing breaks are short periods
that are reserved during the workday to
breastfeed ones child or express milk to be fed
later to the child Convention No. 183 calls for

• The right to one or more daily breaks or a
  reduction in working time for the purpose of
  breastfeeding
• The length and number of breaks to be decided
  nationally
• Nursing breaks are to be counted as working time
  and remunerated

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Supporting breastfeeding and work Breastfeeding
facilities

• Recommendation No. 191 encourages breastfeeding
  facilities at the workplace
• Breastfeeding facilities or nursing rooms are
  simply a place where a worker can feed her baby
  or express her milk
• These facilities should be clean, have clean
  water and privacy
• More than 20 countries have legislation for the
  provision of such facilities
• They are inexpensive to set up, and can consist
  of only a conveniently located small clean space
  with a chair, access to clean water and a screen
  for privacy
• More elaborate facilities can have a refrigerator
  and an outlet for an electric pump

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Other ways to support breastfeeding and work
Other elements can help tosupport breastfeeding
at work,such as

• Proper information
• Support from colleagues
• Flexible working time
• Childcare facilities
• A breastfeeding policy

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How to make the workplace breastfeeding-friendly
Several concrete options exist to make the
workplace more breastfeeding-friendly. They
include the following Time maternity leave,
parental leaves, flexible hours, more breaks,
attention to parents needs regarding childrens
schedules Space comfortable, private facilities
for expressing breast milk, access to a fridge to
store milk, a clean and safe work environment,
day care facilities if feasible Support policy,
information, discussions, consultations in
support of breastfeeding and of family-related
entitlements
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Breastfeeding and HIV
One of the reasons for MTCT is that mothers do
not know their HIV status. Antiretrovirals and
other measures can dramatically reduce the risk
of MTCT The workplace can play a pro-active role
in preventing MTCT by facilitating access to

• voluntary and confidential testing
• treatment and information on infant feeding
  options for HIV positive women

Where mothers living with HIV are encouraged to
breastfeed as the best feeding option for their
infants, continued breastfeeding after returning
to work is even more critical
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Key points

• Returning to paid work is a major reason for
  women to stop breastfeeding before the
  internationally recommended duration of six
  months of exclusive breastfeeding and continued
  breastfeeding until two years or beyond.
• Breastfeeding is the norm for feeding babies and
  supporting breastfeeding at work produces major
  health and economic advantages with benefits for
  the child, the mother, the employer and society.
• Among the benefits reported by employers who
  support breastfeeding at the workplace are lower
  health-care costs, less absenteeism, and higher
  productivity.
• International labour standards set out
  breastfeeding breaks or a daily reduction of
  working time that are counted as working time
  and remunerated accordingly for mothers
  returning from maternity leave. National
  legislation typically provides for one hour,
  usually divided into two 30-minute breaks per
  day.
• Breastfeeding facilities at the workplace are
  inexpensive and easy to set up.
• More and more employers understand the advantages
  of being breastfeeding-friendly, mother-friendly,
  and family-friendly and are making the effort
  to become so, including through developing
  in-house policies.
• It is necessary to raise the awareness of
  policy-makers, trade unions, employers and others
  on the need to support breastfeeding mothers,
  both in terms of time and financial allocations.
  Men as fathers and decision-makers have a
  critical role to play in supporting these
  efforts.
• HIV can be transmitted to infants through
  pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. WHO has
  specific recommendations regarding the prevention
  of transmission through breastfeeding. The
  workplace has a critical role to play in
  preventing mother-to-child-transmission and in
  supporting breastfeeding practices in accordance
  with international guidelines.

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