Cape Town - Companies should provide fridges and private spaces so that breastfeeding employees can express breast milk and store it safely, the provincial Department of Health says.
Spokesman Mark van der Heever said when mothers returned to work from maternity leave they often found inadequate support from employers. Many mothers didn’t even get paid maternity leave, let alone have breastfeeding facilities.
“Mothers should be allowed breaks in which to express their breast milk and not feel victimised or pressurised.”
The department last week launched its campaign to mark Breastfeeding Week.
Apart from the short-term benefits of breastfeeding, such as protecting babies from infections and helping mothers lose weight, the long-term benefits include a reduction of lifestyle diseases, including certain hormonal cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis.
Van der Heever called on employers to provide “appropriate spaces or private rooms to enable mothers to express their breast milk in comfort and store the breast milk safely”.
“Companies should have policies to protect breastfeeding mothers and their choice to continue providing breast milk as the source of nourishment for their infants,” he said.
The call seems to have received support from the Cape Chamber of Commerce, with its chief executive Ruben Richards saying the provision of breastfeeding facilities in the workplace was long overdue, considering that women made up a significant and important part of the workforce.
“The Cape Chamber supports the concept of a progressive workplace which creates an environment which is mindful of the needs of breast-feeding, working mothers.”
The provincial Health Department has led by example and created created comfort rooms for both staff and patients, which could be used by mothers to express breast milk.
This should be a priority in the workplace and part of the effort to encourage
exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding, along with complementary foods, for two years and beyond, he said.
Louise Goosen, head of Milk Matters – a Cape Town-based charity milk bank – said there was generally a lack of workplace support for breastfeeding, with many mothers giving up after maternity leave.
“The more mothers express, the more milk they produce, but many employers don’t seem to care about the importance of breastfeeding,” she said.
Goosen said breastfeeding tended to be frowned upon in South Africa.
“When women see a breastfeeding mother they look again and frown… It’s like a taboo. Many in our society see breastfeeding as something that should be done privately. Unfortunately, this attitude makes many mothers feel very uncomfortable… Many end up giving up because of embarrassment.”
sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za
Cape Argus