Women, work and breastfeeding
Ntombela, N.
Dialogue on Diarrhoea 59: 5
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0950-0235 PMID: 12288579 Document Number: 8065
In order to combine working away from the home with breast feeding, the following can be done: 1) plan the pregnancy so that maternal leave can be combined with annual leave in order to spend more time with the baby; 2) prepare during the pregnancy by learning about breast feeding and how to continue it after the return to work; 3) ask advice from a friend or relative who has breast fed, join a breast feeding support group, talk with a health worker, and read about breast feeding; 4) exclusively breast feed the baby during the maternity leave; 5) after returning to work, continue breast feeding at home, especially at night; 6) take the baby to work, if possible, and breast feed there; 7) alternatively, have a helper bring the baby to work when it is hungry, or go home during breaks to breast feed; and 8) if 6 and 7 are impossible, then leave expressed milk for a helper to feed the baby. Learn to express milk soon after the baby's birth. Begin feeding the baby the expressed breast milk by cup the week before returning to work. Express milk in the morning and breast feed the baby afterward. Most babies require half a cup of breast milk every 3 hours. Cover the container with a cloth and store it in a cool place. It can be kept for 8 hours, even at room temperature. To maintain milk production, express breast milk at work 2-3 times daily. Other household members should share the workload so that the mother has more time to spend with the baby. Employers should give mothers adequate maternity leave until the baby is 4 months old, provide a room at the workplace for childcare and breast feeding, allow women to have 2 half-hour breast feeding breaks, and arrange working hours which enable breast feeding. Workers need to negotiate for these conditions; women should seek support from their colleagues and trade unions.
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