World Breastfeeding Week is a perfect opportunity to highlight the challenges and issues mums may face in this arena. Because for those who can and do breastfeed their babies, it's often described as 'the most natural thing in the world.' Nourishing your baby should be something all mums feel comfortable and supported in doing, wherever they have to do it and however they choose to. But research carried out by Slater and Gordon, a law firm who specialise in maternity discrimination, have unearthed some upsetting facts. Their research has revealed almost eight in 10 women felt uncomfortable or refused to breastfeed their child outside of the home. There may be laws in place to protect mums who want to breastfeed in public. However, there is currently no legal obligation for employers to accommodate women who wish to continue breastfeeding their child when they return to work. So, based on the 800 women who took part in the research (who have returned to work in the last five years), what's the impact this has on breastfeeding mums?
63 per cent of mums felt uncomfortable breastfeeding in public
14 per cent only fed their child in their own home.
One in five said they had been told to STOP breastfeeding in public.
Although mums are protected by law, 40 per cent of women polled did not know they were able to breastfeed in places such as airplanes, trains, churches and restaurants.
So here are some places you may not have known you can breastfeed:
1. At a council meeting
2. In cathedrals and other churches
3. At the zoo
4. In the Houses of Parliament
5. On the tube
But how do mums thinking of returning to the workplace feel?
More than half of women reduced the amount they breastfed their child when they re-entered the workplace.
One in eight stopped all together.
22% only breastfed when they weren’t at work.
17% of respondents reduced the number of times they expressed milk or fed their child during the day.
It seems there is a worrying correlation between returning to the workplace and reducing or stopping breastfeeding altogether. Paula Chan, an employment lawyer at the firm explains:“Women who choose to breastfeed their children are totally within their rights to do so in a public place. "The law is less clear, however, in relation to women who wish to return to work whilst breastfeeding.
“Employers can’t prevent breastfeeding mothers returning to work but there is no legal requirement to provide facilities to enable mothers to express milk."
How did the mums returning to work who reduced the amount they breastfed manage?
Four in ten said there wasn't anywhere for them to feed their child or express milk.
37% said they would have felt too uncomfortable expressing milk or feeding their child in the workplace.
A quarter said it wasn't practical for them.
One in five said there wasn't anywhere to store milk.
One in seven said their employer wasn't supportive.
Although the Equality Act 2010 does protect mums breastfeeding in a public place, they still need greater protection in the workplace. Paula says: “It’s not hard for employers to make provisions for women who are breastfeeding. "They can set aside a private room, allow the child to come to the office at lunchtime, where possible, provide a fridge for storing the milk and allow women to be more flexible with their work hours. “For most women just starting the conversation before they return to work is a step forward and a way of helping women feel like there is a choice in whether they
continue to breastfeed or not.
Breast or bottle: tell us how you feed your baby?
Credit - UK Mirror
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