World Breastfeeding Week
August 1-7, 2019
August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week. The World Health Organization recommends initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond. Employers can play a role in promoting breastfeeding by ensuring access to adequate and gender-equitable parental leave, implementing family-friendly workplace policies, and providing employees with break times and a clean and sanitary place to express milk when they are away from their infants.
Promoting breastfeeding is important because:
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| Undernutrition is associated with 45% of child deaths | Optimal breastfeeding could save the lives of over 820,000 children under the age of 5 each year | Breastfeeding could prevent 20,000 maternal breast cancer deaths annually | Only 36% of infants aged 0-6 months were exclusively breastfed between 2007 and 2014 |
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What can employers do?
According to the Business Group’s Parent Package, a study of multiple companies with lactation support programs found positive outcome, including an average retention rate of 94%, compared to a national average of 59% , as well as business savings associated with decreased absenteeism and lower health care costs. Employers and employees can reap these benefits by offering:
- A clean and hygienic space to express milk as recommended by the International Labour Organization, as well as time to do so (note: in many countries this is required by law).
- Adequate parental leave that allows mothers to exclusively breastfeed for six months and enables fathers to support breastfeeding mothers as well as promotes gender-equitable parenting, as this is a known success factor.
- Family-friendly policies and programs such as flex working, on-site childcare and/or job shares that promote breastfeeding.
- Breast milk shipping services for nursing mothers who travel for work.
- Breastfeeding support groups and/or access to trained International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLC).
- Discounted, subsidized or free pumping equipment.
Additional Business Group Resources
- Mothering Rooms & Breastfeeding
- Global Leaves – Highlights for Providing Parental Leave Benefits Around the World
- Quick Survey Findings - Maternal Supports and Benefits
- Quick Survey Findings: Parental Benefits, Supports & Perks
- The Parent Package
- The Family-Friendly Employer: Top Companies Take the Lead in Parental Leave and Programs for Working Parents
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For the full listing of United Nations-sponsored observances, please visit its website. For sample emails about past and future health observances visit our website.
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