The World Health Organisation WHO and the United Nations International Children Fund UNICEF have called on government to ensure a supportive breastfeeding environmenmoth for all working mothers – including those in the informal sector or on temporary contracts.
According to a joint statement released by the WHO Director General, Dr Tedro Ghebreyesus and the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week under its theme, “Let’s make breastfeeding at work, work”.
Both Bodies emphasized the need for greater breastfeeding support across all workplaces to sustain and improve progress on breastfeeding rates globally, adding that in the last 10 years, many countries have made significant progress to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates.
WHO and UNICEF also called on Government to help mothers access regular breastfeeding breaks, facilities enable them to continue breastfeeding their children once return to work and provide sufficient paid leave to all working parents and caregivers to meet the needs of their young children.
The Bodies stated that this paid leave must include maternity leave for minimum of 18 weeks, preferably for a period of six months or more after birth.
And increase investments in breastfeeding support policies and programmes in all settings, including a national policy and programme that regulates and promotes public and private sector support to breastfeeding women in the workplace.
According to both Bodies, “In the last decade, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding has increased by a remarkable 10 percentage points, to 48 per cent globally.
“Countries as diverse as Cote d’Ivoire, Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Somalia and Viet Nam have achieved large increases in breastfeeding rates, showing that progress is possible when breastfeeding is protected, promoted, and supported.
“However, to reach the global 2030 target of 70 percent, the barriers women and families face to achieve their breastfeeding goals must be addressed.
“Supportive workplaces are key. Evidence shows that while breastfeeding rates drop significantly for women when they return to work, that negative impact can be reversed when workplaces facilitate mothers to continue to breastfeed their babies.
“Family-friendly workplace policies – such as paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks, and a room where mothers can breastfeed or express milk – create an environment that benefits not only working women and their families but also employers.
“These polices generate economic returns by reducing maternity-related absenteeism, increasing the retention of female workers, and reducing the costs of hiring and training new staff.
“From the earliest moments of a child’s life, breastfeeding is the ultimate child survival, development intervention. Breastfeeding protects babies from infectious diseases and boosts children’s immune systems, providing the key nutrients children need to grow and develop to their full potential.
“Babies who are not breastfed are 14 times more likely to die before they reach their first birthday than babies who are exclusively breastfed”, they said.