Call to ease breastfeeding at work

Robyn Cooke (left) and daughter Jasmine, and Allison Butcher with twins Daisy and Imogene were at the Browns Bay Leisure Centre to do their bit for a breastfeeding record. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Women breastfeeding their babies in the workplace need more support from their employers and workmates, preliminary findings of a new study has found.

The finding's release in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week, which ends today, came as hundreds of women all over the country attempted to break the national record for the most women breastfeeding simultaneously.

The Big Latch-on Day saw 671 women breastfeeding their babies at 53 locations on Saturday. Once the total is confirmed, it will replace the existing national record of 654.

The event, organised by Women's Health Action, was intended to highlight the importance of breastfeeding, but the new study has found women still face difficulties breastfeeding at work.

In the country's first qualitative study on the subject, AUT's Dr Debbie Payne and her team interviewed 30 women from professional occupations. A third of those surveyed returned to work within three months of having their babies.

"Women who return to the workforce need a designated area to breastfeed and express milk," said Dr Payne, director of AUT's centre for midwifery and women's health research.

"But some of the women surveyed were unhappy with the allocated space. Two of them had to use the shower cubicle, which some cultures find totally inappropriate."

Others were put off by how other breastfeeding mothers were treated.

"Two of the women had been discouraged from returning to work because of comments made by colleagues towards other mothers. They were worried about not being seen as slacking off."

Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said a supportive working environment was critical in retaining workers and, for some women, this meant access to breaks and space for breastfeeding.

She cited research in 2003 which indicated that while businesses believed they were breastfeeding-friendly, there was limited communication about it, and this in turn was interpreted as a lack of support and unwillingness to accommodate breastfeeding at work.

Breastfeeding was a workers' rights issue which sat alongside quality childcare provision, the right to return part-time or full-time and longer and better paid parental leave with better eligibility criteria, Ms Beaumont said.

"Breastfeeding mums need to feel confident that workplaces have policies in place and a culture that supports them and their babies in the workplace."