Workplace Lactation Support Program: An Avenue to Benefit Workplace Settings, Employed Women and Infants

Abstract

Introduction Breastfeeding is a complete diet for the young children, as well as an important aspect of parenting. Considering crucial role of breastfeeding towards improvement of maternal and child health in a society, World Health Organization has recommended to protect, promote support breastfeeding practices of lactating mothers at diverse care setups. 1 Unfortunately, most of the time the efforts to protect, promote and support breastfeeding practices of women is limited to the health care setups and very little attention is paid at nursing mothers' workplace settings where employed women often juggle with the dual responsibilities of managing breastfeeding with employment. Literature highlights that employed women are one of those groups who often find it challenging to sustain their breastfeeding practices while returning to workplace setting. 2-6 In today's century, rising economic recession, inflation and urbanization has not only tremendously increased women's workforce participation but has also resulted in gradual decline in breastfeeding prevalence among employed women. 3,4 To address the issue of suboptimal breastfeeding rates among employed women, worldwide a pressing need is viewed to have lactation support programs at employed women's workplace settings. The notion of workplace lactation support program has been described in literature as supportive measures at workplace environment that facilitate employed women to sustain their breastfeeding practices during working hours. 4,7,8 The worksite lactation support program is usually a company sponsored employee assistance program designed for lactating women that ensures provision of official breastfeeding breaks, breast milk pumping facilities, breast milk storage facilities, child daycare facilities and privacy for employed women to breastfeed their child or express breast milk at the workplace. 4,9,10 It is asserted that workplace lactation program aims to accommodate rights and needs of nursing mothers and breastfeeding babies not only by offering various logistic arrangements at workplace but also through accommodation of mother and baby-friendly supportive policies at the workplace. 11,12 Workplace lactation support programs are reflective of the planned and collective efforts of a workplace to facilitate breastfeeding practices of employed women through specialized arrangements. 13 Literature highlights that although the offered support in such programs varies from workplace to workplace, these programs serve as work-life conflict resolution strategy for many employed women. 14 In the light of literature, in this paper it is argued that workplace lactation support program is an avenue that can offer tremendous benefits for the employers/ workplace settings, employed women and young children, hence, benefit the society at large. Benefits of workplace lactation support program for employers/workplace settings Workplace lactation support program offers several benefits to employers and workplace settings. 15 Firstly, workplace lactation support program serves as an avenue to enhance job satisfaction among female employees, hence, enables employers to boost productivity of female employees and establish mutually beneficial association with them. 15-17 Secondly, lactation support program serves as an employee retention strategy for the employers, as the facilities offered through such programs entitle female workers to manage the dual responsibility of continuing breastfeeding with employment. 15 Thirdly, lactation support program can serve as cost-effective strategy for the employers by promoting retention among female employees; 16 hence, it can save the cost of hiring and training new employees. Beside above benefits, the workplace lactation support program can enhance company's productivity by reducing absenteeism rates among female employees. 15,16 Employed women who are not well supported by their employers to sustain their breastfeeding practices during working hours often choose to formula feed their children which increases sickness rates among their babies and concurrently increases absenteeism among female employees. 15 Moreover, workplace lactation support program by offering mother and baby friendly interventions at the workplace positively contributes towards improving an organizational image, 18 hence serves as pull factor for employees to join the organization that values and respects employees' comfort and work-life balance. Abstract Employed women are one of those groups who often find it challenging to continue their breastfeeding practices with paid work; hence they often up into stress and role-conflict due to their inability to manage infant's feeding responsibilities along with employment. Considering the rising trend of women's labor force participation and gradual decline in breastfeeding prevalence among employed women, in this paper, workplace lactation support program is discussed as an avenue that can not only sustain breastfeeding practices of employed women and improve maternal and child health in a society but can also benefit workplace organizations by enhancing job satisfaction, decreasing absenteeism and lowering turnover rates among female employees. Citation: Hirani SAA. Work place lactation support program: an avenue to benefit workplace settings, employed women and infants.