We Support Breastfeeding at Work
Supporting Working Women to Breastfeed
Breast milk is the first and best food for infants. Breast milk not only provides specialized nutrition perfectly designed for a growing infant’s needs, but also builds the infant’s immune system, improving survival and delivering lifelong benefits for health and development.
World Vision's Breastfeeding Position:
- Initiating breastfeeding during the first hour after delivery
- Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life (no other liquids or solids, apart from medicines as directed by a doctor);
- Continued breastfeeding up to two years and beyond (with the introduction of appropriate complementary foods beginning at six months of age).
World Vision actively supports the global goal of increasing the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding to 70 per cent by 2030. The need to return to paid employment is one major barrier to exclusive breastfeeding faced by mothers around the world. The solution begins with adequate maternity leave provisions set by countries. However, enforcing this legislation is easier said than done and maternity leave protection often does not cover specific groups of workers, including domestic helpers, the self-employed and agricultural workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 830 million women do not have access to adequate maternity leave protection, with the majority of these in Africa and Asia; the very places with the highest burden of malnourished children.
In addition to providing adequate maternity leave, incorporating infant care centres into workplaces is also crucial as it allows parents to continue bonding with their children, and mothers to breastfeed, during the workday.
A number of World Vision offices in the Asia Pacific Region have taken important steps to support employees who are breastfeeding mothers through initiating a Mother-Baby Friendly Office (MBFO) movement. As an organization dedicated to child well-being, World Vision is leading by example in ensuring that the children of staff members have full access to the life-saving and health-promoting benefits of breastfeeding. Several offices have extended maternity and/or paternity benefits beyond nationally legislated requirements, while others have established breastfeeding rooms and on-site nurseries, or created flexible working arrangements to better accommodate nursing mothers.