>(You may want to take your blood pressure medicine before you read this
>editorial rant about breastfeeding protection in the workplace in Scotland)
>
>Katie Grant: Kerr's breast strategy is fed by men
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-2122967,00.html
>
>The Sunday Times - Scotland
>April 09, 2006
This particular journalist has form when dissing breastfeeding -
personally I get very cross when women who are mothers and who are
indeed *breastfeeding mothers* as she is, bcome so poisonous about it.
The irony is that Scotland has been leading the way in public support
for breastfeeding. It is illegal to prevent a mother breastfeeding in
a public place, for example, and the infant feeding strategy
developed by the Scottish Parliament (and now in consultation) has
many sensible and practical aspects to it. The bit that KG is
complaining about is only one very tiny part.
I replied to the article thus:
Katie Grant's very cross about a point in the proposed Infant Feeding
Strategy for Scotland.
It's the one which suggests ways working mums might be helped to
maintain the health of their babies by continuing to breastfeed.
Katie thinks it's all just too indulgent to mothers (and babies,
presumably), and highly impractical for employers.
I don't think Katie has read the strategy. If she had, she'd have
seen the proposal is simply to formalise existing good practice,
already laid out in workplace health and safety guidance.
This protects on-going breastfeeding by providing ways for mothers to
express and store their breastmilk at work, or by offering
flexibility, so mothers who use work-place nurseries can schedule
breastfeeding visits.
There's no suggestion that mothers would need to sit and feed in the
office, or that employers would be forced to allow babies on the
premises. But let's be fair. If Katie hasn't read the actual
document, it's not surprising she's got this wrong.
Katie will be amazed, of course, as frankly, she has rather skimped
on her research as well, but breastfeeding/expressing breaks are
legally enforceable in many countries of the world, including
Scandinavia, Brazil, Australia, Canada and in several states in the
USA.
Many family-friendly workplaces in the UK already have good provision, too.
Katie won't know this, but it's not at all uncommon for mothers to
continue breastfeeding long after they return to part-time or
full-time work. I can reassure Katie that there is normally no
problem with unpredictable feeding patterns or leaking (she seems to
have a particular anxiety about this, and the putative dry cleaning
bills). This is because most women return to the workplace when
their babies are well beyond the what Katie refers to as the
'hopeless time-keeper' stage, and long after leaking is an issue.
After all, many babies continue breastfeeding (as well as having
other foods) long after the recommended six months for exclusive
breastfeeding, and there is good evidence that this benefits health
in the short and long term.
I'm going to surprise Katie again: good employers are aware of this,
plus the solid body of research showing mothers who continue to
breastfeed after returning to work are far less likely to need time
off to attend to sick children, or to take them to the doctor.
So it makes sound economic sense for bosses to support continued
breastfeeding, and to develop policies that encourage their trained
workforce to stay with them.
If they don't, these days mums might well choose to swap to another,
perhaps more flexible, employer.
The Scottish consultation document puts forward many reasonable,
health-protective ideas; as it happens, only a few of them are to do
with work - and none of them mentions Katie's strange fear of forcing
men to lactate. If Katie's worried about businesses seeing their
female employees being paid to skive, legislation would put a cap on
timing and frequency of expressing, as it does elsewhere in the world.
Why can't mothers continue to work and breastfeed, then, Katie?
Because it might be a bit inconvenient to employers? We've already
seen it's actually good for them.
Because you think expressing is 'vile' and someone might leak
breastmilk onto the office carpet? Bit of a thin argument to prevent
the best nourishment for the next generation, don't you think?
Of course women can work and breastfeed without affecting the office
carpet at all - I did it, and I know scores of women who have done
so, for a long, long time, too.
The truth is that Scotland is leading the way in making it easier for
women to breastfeed and live a normal, 21st century life. Scottish
breastfeeding rates are still among the poorest in Europe, and
Scottish babies, children and adults are among the least healthy.
Sensible, modest changes in the law could make a real difference.
Heather Welford
Interest declared: I am a professional writer and wrote most of the
Scottish breastfeeding support materials published by HEBS, later NHS
Health Scotland.
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
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