Gender friendly workplace needed
Every company should have a lactation policy. Having a policy in place means those employers will know exactly how to support an employee who wants to continue breastfeeding
Fahmida Hashem
Breastfeeding has long been viewed as a no-go in the workplace. It seems as though the only option for working, nursing mothers is to either potentially sacrifice the health of their baby due to switching from breast milk to baby formula, or to sacrifice valuable time and money, or even their job. WHO recommend that mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first six months stn continue for 2 years in order to attain optimal benefits. Employers may think that hiring or keeping on a nursing mother is only going to cost them. Mothers are the fastest growing segment of the Bangladesh labour force. In the long run, supporting them in the workplace can be beneficial both- employee stn employer.
Breast milk is the optimum source of nutrition for infants. In order to produce sufficient breast-milk for exclusive infant feeding, a woman must breastfeed regularly throughout the day. Taking long breaks from breastfeeding (e.g. an eight hour) disrupts breast milk production. Working women therefore need to breastfeed their babies or express their milk while they are at work. Research shows that women who find a balance between work and family are more likely to breastfeed for longer.
During the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding and the period of complementary feeding, when a child consumes soft, semi-solid or solid foods alongside breast milk, a sudden reduction in the frequency of feeds due to a return to work can lower milk production. An insufficient milk supply is frequently reported by mothers as a reason for stopping breastfeeding, especially when going back to work.
A Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace is where an organisation or enterprise provides an appropriate and friendly environment for their breastfeeding employees to express breast milk in the workplace in order to continue breastfeeding their children. Some workplaces are not breastfeeding friendly, that is, there are barriers which prevent women from continue breastfeeding in these workplaces. Today, of the approximately 830 million women workers in the world, the majority do not benefit from workplace policies that support nursing mothers.
Every company should have a lactation policy. Having a policy in place means those employers will know exactly how to support an employee who wants to continue breastfeeding. A lactation policy can help a mother decide whether to return to work after maternity leave. Supporting nursing moms at work is not only the right thing to do; it can also help your business or company. Business benefits of a formal lactation support program include: Lower health care costs, Lower absenteeism rates, higher retention rates. Employees are more likely to return after maternity leave band have higher job satisfaction. Productive, satisfied, and experienced employees mean less employee turnover and lower costs in recruiting and training.
Stakeholders (i.e. government, trade unions and employers) need to better understand the importance of breastfeeding. One of the provisions that can help to improve breastfeeding rates and duration is to ensure that the minimum standards set by the International Labour Organization (ILO) are implemented at the workplace; namely, making sure that breastfeeding breaks are established and used. As early as 1919, the ILO acknowledged that breastfeeding was an integral part of motherhood and of reproduction, and thus deserved protection at the workplace.
Lower Health Care Costs Breastfeeding can reduce medical costs for mother and child. For every 1,000 babies not breastfed, there are an extra 2,033 physician visits, 212 days in the hospital and 609 prescriptions. A study of multiple companies with lactation support programs found an average retention rate of 94%.
We need a Labour Standards Act (FLSA) which is amended to require employers to provide basic accommodations, such as time and space, for breastfeeding mothers at work. More and more large companies should accept the idea of a breastfeeding-friendly policy in the workplace. Workplace Breastfeeding Policy It is good practice for an employer to have a policy on breastfeeding at the workplace. Adequate provision for breastfeeding is an investment in the health of the present and future workforce. Todays children are tomorrows workers.
Breastfeeding friendly workplace ultimately earns a business a positive self-image in the community. Potential employees will hear a company supports breastfeeding and it will attract great employees. The World Health Assembly has set a global target of increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates for children less than six months of age to at least 50 per cent by 2025.
To achieve this ambitious and very important goal, we need to tackle all the barriers to breastfeeding.
Governments should lead the charge by making breastfeeding a policy in workplace priority in national development plans and working with communities and families to promote the full benefits of breastfeeding. Our challenge now is to make breastfeeding work in the workplace, too.
Together, we can help working women to breastfeed and reap the benefits for themselves, for their children, and for the health and well-being of future generations. Lastly, employees breastfeeding support is a key component to build up a strong foundation for child stn to overcoming workplace obstacles.
The writer is a nutritionist
