There is no doubt that breast milk is the best food for a baby. For this reason, the WHO and medical societies recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and from there to maintain it, along with complementary feeding until at least the first two years of life. But the social reality in which we live often prevents this recommendation from being fulfilled, since the mother must return to work and most of them stop breastfeeding when this moment arrives.
This week the World Breastfeeding Week 2021 is celebrated under the slogan “Protecting Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility”, with the aim of claiming the importance of avoiding discrimination against breastfeeding mothers in all areas, offering family support and community.
80 percent of mothers decide to breastfeed
In this sense, and according to the Elvie Spain Barometer on breastfeeding, although 80% of Spanish women breastfeed, one in three women decides to leave it for social and work reasons . In fact, 19% of Spanish mothers specifically stop breastfeeding after three months, but the majority (58%) do so after six months for social reasons and because it is difficult for them to reconcile it with returning to work.
In addition, we must add the factor of stigma whereby according to the same Elvie Barometer, the brand that developed the first hands-free breast pump, 40% of Spanish women feel uncomfortable seeing another woman breastfeeding compared to 19% of men .
Maternity leave of six months is required
The data are conclusive and indicate that return to work is the time when most mothers stop breastfeeding . It is not impossible to continue doing it because the mother can express the milk to leave reserves for her baby while she cannot be with him, the truth is that later in practice it is not so easy.
The solution? From my point of view it is essential that the mother can enjoy a maternity leave of six months in order to comply with the recommended time of exclusive breastfeeding and to be able to be with her baby full time during the first months of life.
It seems like an unsustainable utopia for the system, but it is not. If we delve into what it would mean for mothers to be able to breastfeed their babies for longer, all are benefits. In addition to the undoubted advantages for the health of both, there are also them from an economic point of view.
It is proven that breastfeeding reduces the admissions of premature babies to the ICU, as well as the incidence and severity of many diseases in both the baby and the mother, which would imply great savings in Health in the long term. In other words, prolonging breastfeeding through longer maternity leave would save the health system millions of euros.
In Babies and more | How to get back to work and keep breastfeeding without stress
