The main international health organizations recommend maintaining breastfeeding at least until the baby is six months old, thanks to the various benefits it provides for mothers and children. However, nursing permits in many countries do not cover this time .
Proof of this is the new report that the breastfeeding application LactApp has shared with us on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, and in which mothers express how breastfeeding is affected by working mothers from 67 countries .
Returning to work, an obstacle to maintaining breastfeeding
With the participation of almost 15,000 mothers with children born from 2020, this is how this special report on the work environment and breastfeeding has been produced. According to the majority of the mothers surveyed, returning to work is one of the main reasons why they are forced to stop or stop breastfeeding .
Among the main figures that we can find in the report, it stands out that more than half of the mothers -specifically, 58% of them- saw their breastfeeding affected when they returned to work three or four months after giving birth.
In the case of mothers who returned to work after six months, we found that the figure is very different: only 31% of those surveyed stated that their breastfeeding was affected.
In fact, the report highlights that during 2021 weanings due to returning to work increased by 21% compared to the previous year, coinciding with the return to normality after the distancing measures that had been imposed due to the pandemic.
And it is that in addition to having to reduce the frequency of feedings due to the return to face-to-face work, 66.6% of companies do not have adequate spaces for mothers to express milk . According to the report, only 42 countries have any legislation that requires companies to have lactation rooms.
The solution is clear: nursing leave and longer maternity leave are required. And mothers know it, since 97% of those surveyed consider that a longer birth leave would benefit breastfeeding.
Telecommuting, a positive alternative
In addition to surveying mothers who were breastfeeding and returned to work in person, the report also included the participation of women who had chosen to telecommute or continue working from home. In this case, the figures are very different.
86% of the participants said that working from home helped support their breastfeeding , thanks to the flexible hours they obtained in their companies.
In addition, they affirm that returning to work generates fewer difficulties
in breastfeeding when it is possible to telework: unlike the 53% who think that returning to face-to-face work affects breastfeeding, only 36.3% consider that work makes it difficult .
Although ideally mothers around the world should have maternity leave that allows mothers to breastfeed their children for longer, telecommuting is an option that companies should definitely consider.
Foto de portada | Helena Jankovičová Kováčová en Pexels
