Breastfeeding, a smart choise for working women.
Submission to the E-Consultation on Hunger, Food and Nutrition Security
Submitted by: Eminence and Bangladesh Civil Society Network for
Promoting Nutrition(BCSNPN)
3/6, Asad Avenue, Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. www.eminencebd.org, www.bcsnpn.net, email:dina@eminence-bd.org, info@bcsnpn.net
Introduction: Mothers are the fastest-growing segment of current global workforce. In the
past 20 years, the percentage of new mothers in the workforce has increased which makes
women more challenging when they become pregnant. In most cases, those mothers are not
able to return works due to lack of support in work place or lack of care giver who can take
care of their baby during her absence that make it challenging to continue her jobs and results
is discontinuation of job in this stage. Those continue their job phase lots of challenges to
continue breastfeeding to their child and started bottle feeding. It is well documented that one
of the primary reasons for early breastfeeding cessation is the Mother’s return to work.i ii iii iv
Breastfeeding is a low-tech, low-cost health promotion behavior that has received increasing
support from public health authorities worldwide over the past 50 years. It has become
increasingly clear that breastfeeding is the best option for infant and young child feeding, and
that not breastfeeding exposes mother and child to higher risks of ill health in both the short
and long term.
Inappropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding practices is one of the major cause of child
malnutrition. Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour, exclusive breastfeeding for first six
months and continued breastfeeding for 20 to 23 months have been identified as major
indicators for achieving Millenium Development Goal 4, reducing child mortality one third
by 2015.
Barriers to optimal infant and young child feeding contribute to 1.4 million preventable
deaths annually in children under five, the majority of whom are dying already during the
first month of life. Initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of birth can reduce neonatal
mortality by 20%, but shockingly, more than half the world’s newborns are not breastfeed
within an hour of birth. Exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding
for 12 months may prevent under five child deaths by 13%, complementary feeding may
contribute to reduce 6% child deaths (Lancet2003). Globally only around 37% of infants
under six months are exclusively breastfed (Lancet2003). A 16-country study found that
adequate maternity leave policies might increase breastfeeding sufficiently to prevent one to
two neonatal deaths per 2,000 live births.v
Human milk and infant formula are not equivalent and are not equally suitable options for
infant feeding. Researchvi vii has found that for every $1 spent on breastfeeding support,
companies save $3. This is because in companies which support breastfeeding women return
to work earlier,fewer health-care dollars are spent, fewer sick days are taken, employees
report greater job satisfaction, companies report reduced staff turnover.
Health insurance studies have documented that infants who are exclusively breastfed for
three months or longer have overall health care costs that are $300-$400 less per year than
infants who are bottlefed.viii Evidence reported in a two-year study of 343 employees an
annual savings of $240,000 in health care expenses.ix Breastfeeding also Lower Absenteeism
& Turnover Rates One-day absences to care for sick children occur more than twice as often
for mothers of formula feeding infants.x A study of multiple companies with lactation
support programs found an average retention rate of 94%.xi
Given this atmosphere of unacknowledged demand, there is an urgent need to educate
employers on the value and feasibility of worksite breastfeeding support programs for
business profitability. So a worksite breastfeeding support initiative can easily build upon
the increased awareness of the importance of breastfeeding, utilizing a combination of
outreach and education strategies to reach both employers and empoyees.Breastfeeding
support in workplace improve retention, mitigates lost productivity/absenteeism, earlier
return from maternity leave, higher employee loyalty and create a family friendly business.
Challenges and opportunities:
The challenge in terms of breastfeeding protection is the adoption and the monitoring of an
adequate policy of maternity entitlements that facilitate six months of exclusive breastfeeding
for women employed in all sectors, with urgent attention to the non-formal sector. Lack of
support in Workplace, family members, poor Implementation of the International Code of
Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes makes mother more difficult to continue breastfeeding.
The Innocenti Declarations (1999, 2005) and WHO Global Strategy for IYCF (2002) call for
provision of imaginative legislation to protect the breastfeeding rights of working women and
further monitoring of its application consistent with ILO Maternity Protection Convention
No 183, 2000 (MPC No. 183) and Recommendation 191. MPC No. 183 specifies that women
workers should receive:
 Health protection, job protection and non-discrimination for pregnant and breastfeeding
workers
 At least 14 weeks of paid maternity leave
 One or more paid breastfeeding breaks daily or daily reduction of hours of work to
breastfeed
Furthermore, Recommendation 191 encourages facilities for breastfeeding to be set up at or
near the workplace.
Many country’s make good progress in tracking maternity protection and could manage six
months maternity leave with payment, however, long ways needs to go to achive this.
Directions for the future:
 Aware employers with this maternity protection law and encourage for incorpoarting
into their existing policy.
 Prenatal education classes for the pregnnat women in the work place
 Orientation of employes with the advantages of breastfeeding
 Establish baby creche in all work places.
 Improve knowledge amongst both employers and employees regarding importance of
proper breastfeeding and complemnetary feeding practices.
 Establish a work site environment that favors mothers recently given birth breatsfeed
exclusively enabling them to transition back into the workplace while optimizing the
benefits their infants receive from being breastfed.
 Advocate employes to make an reasonable time and private accommodations for
employees to express milk at the workplace whom are not taken their baby in the
work site.
 Ensure Co-workers support in the work place.
 Proper implementation of International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk
Substitute.
 Provision
of
worksite
based
lactation
management.
i
Taveras, E.M., Capr, A.M., Braverman, P.A. Jensvold, N.G., Escobar, G.J. and Lieu, T.Z. 2003. Clinician support
and psychosocial risk factors associated with breastfeeding discontinuation. Pediatrics 112(1): 108-115.
ii
Ryan, A., Wenjun, Z. and Acosta, A. 2002. Breastfeeding continues to increase into the new millennium.
Pediatrics 110(6): 1103-1109.
iii
Fein, S.B. and Roe, B. 1998. The effect of work status on initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Am J Pub
Health 88(7): 1042-1046.
iv
Visness, C.M. and Kennedy, K. I. 1997. Maternal employment and breastfeeding: Findings from the 1988
National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. Am J Pub Health 87: 945-950.
v
Ruhm C. Parental leave and child health. Journal of Health Economics. 2000;19(6):931-960.
vi
Cohen, R. et al. Comparison of maternal absenteeism and infant illness rates among breast-feeding and formula
feeding women in two corporations. Am J Health Promo 1995; 10(2):148-53.
vii
Cohen, R. and Mrtek, M. The impact of two corporate lactation programs on the incidence and duration of
breastfeeding by employed mothers. Am J Health Promo 1994; 8(6):436-41.
viii
U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. Employment status of women and men in 2008. Available at:
http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/Qf-ESWM08_txt.htm. Accessed May 15, 2009.
ix
Dickson V, Hawkes C, Slusser W, Lange L, Cohen R, Slusser W. (2000). The positive impact of a corporate lactation program
on breastfeeding initiation and duration rates: help for the working mother. Unpublished manuscript. Presented at the
Annual Seminar for Physicians on Breastfeeding, Co-Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and La Leche League International. Chicago, IL: July 21, 2000.
x
Cohen R, Mrtek MB, Mrtek RG. (1995). Comparison of maternal absenteeism and infant illness rates among breastfeeding and
formula-feeding women in two corporations. American J of Health Promotion, 10(2):148-153.
xi
Ortiz J, McGilligan K, Kelly P. (2004). Duration of breast milk expression among working mothers enrolled in an employersponsored
lactation program. Pediatric Nursing, 30(2):111-119.