2009/3/17, Helen Butler <[log in to unmask]>:

# Employers are legally required to provide suitable rest facilities
for workers who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Also, although not a
legal requirement, employers are encouraged to provide a healthy and
safe environment for nursing mothers to express and store milk. /---/
It is not a legal requirement to provide a   pumping room but it is a
requirement to provide rest facilities. #


I will clarify a bit more the situation in Finland.

We do not - unfortunately - have legislation regarding breastfeeding &
working. That would be lovely, though :) .

But, we do have a maternity leave for three months (fully paid for
most; only mothers may use this three months' period), plus ab. six
months (with partial compensation (about 60 - 70 %); mother and father
may share this period of time if they want to), plus mother may 'save'
her annual vacation (5 weeks usually) to have it later on. Plus father
may have an additional two weeks of leave after the mom's mat. leave
is over (fathers may have total 3 to 7 weeks of partially compensated
parenting leave, if I remember correct, and part of it must be spent
during mother's mat. leave). This means most babies are about 9 to 10
months old when the paid maternity/parenting leave is over.

After that, the mother or father is allowed to stay at home until the
child will become 3 years old. During this time they will get a small
(tiny...) compensation, and they have the right to return to their
previous work afterwards.

These days about 60 % of kids under 3 years old are taken care of at
home with (usually) the mother. And when you think how few babies are
breastfed even at one year, those mothers who will continue
breastfeeding after their return to work life are very very few.

All this, of course, is no excuse of not having guaranteed-by-law
rights for breastfeeding mothers at work places.

Sanna-Mari
bf support group leader
Finland, Scandinavia

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