Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is binding on all governments in the world with the exception of the US and Somalia, says that "women have the right to breastfeed their children." In the UK, women workers now have 52 weeks maternity leave during which they are paid 80 per cent of salary. In the US, the government allows 12 weeks leave, but unpaid.
That being said, what would you say to the idea of maternal and lactation, and by extension, day care services, becoming compulsory at our own workplaces?
Mothers here are willing to lobby for these causes. All respondents from a Guardian Features Department Facebook social media poll agreed on the need for them.
Ruth Dubar-Paul, a member of the online group Trini Moms, wrote: "...It is a conversation that has been around for quite some time, especially by the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women, among other civil society groups and trade unions...It would be practical, especially as most women working in most sectors (especially health), are of childbearing age.
"I remember some months ago taking a breast pump to a young doctor. Her baby was ten weeks old and she was already back at work in pediatric emergency. How practical it would have been to have him close to her to breastfeed. Then, as they get older, some mothers like myself walk away from the height of successful careers to care for children–because at the time, it is the best decision for the whole family."
Her concern is echoed by many. Our informal poll showed that many mothers feel forced to introduce their babies to formula as early as one month, sometimes even earlier. This, they say, is done to "break them in" for the mothers' inevitable return to work, when baby must go to day care–often the only reasonable option.
"I would have loved to breastfeed my daughter alone. But when you only give them the breast, they become attached. It is real hard for you when you have to return to work, because they get accustomed to that, and many day cares have a problem when they are not taking a bottle," said one mother from West Port-of-Spain.
Paediatricians are inundated with such concerns, which they say are real for working mothers. But to tell a mother it is okay to start their baby on formula from such a tender age, when mother's milk is vital to the proper growth, development and all-round health of the baby would just be criminal, said one paediatrician in Santa Cruz. Another in St Augustine agreed.
Dr David Bratt has written extensively on this issue in his T&T Guardian column. In 2012 an elated Bratt, along with the Breastfeeding Association of T&T (BFTT) director and secretary Jacqueline Gibbon, presented to the Central Bank of T&T (CBTT), the Informative Breastfeeding Service's Award for the most mother-friendly workplace. CBTT was pioneering the initiative. It established its maternal facility in 2008 for mothers to breastfeed or express milk while on the job.
Bratt, also the medical advisor to BFTT, liked CBTT's initiative and some years ago, had hoped to see more organisations go this way. He said such facilities increased firms' productivity while improving the mental and emotional well-being of employees.
Gibbons has said maternal and childcare facilities at workplaces should be compulsory, to ease mothers' conflicts in considering childcare arrangements while feeding their babies healthy breast milk. She said a lactation programme would help provide optimal health and nutrition for babies. And women really appreciate workplaces which provide such services: "Women feel more company loyalty leading to better retention of employees."
Bratt said in a recent Guardian interview that employers and society have frankly not grasped the importance of breastfeeding. He said companies ignore the benefits because they still have the primitive thinking, that it's not their business or their priority or responsibility to create a space for breastfeeding or childcare at work. The attitude is: "It's a workplace. You mad or what?"
He said we need an open dialogue on breastfeeding, and said women tell him they feel unsupported and stressed out trying to make arrangements by themselves.
"It is easy to take the small steps, such as providing a private space and flexible break schedule that allows time for pumping. Women have always worked and breastfed. ...Women are amazingly good at adapting. That is a statement of respect and admiration," commented Bratt.
Bratt suggested firms start with a pilot programme to provide the basics–a small, private space and reasonable break time for employees to express breast milk. Expansion, if decided, could continue by adding education, flexible time and leave policies, and other amenities according to employees' needs.
"Non-communicable diseases–basically obesity and its complications, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and heart attacks–cost us TT$6 billion a year, while exclusively breastfeeding a baby for six months would save TT$2 billion," said Bratt.
Is the Government prepared to discuss this? Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste Primus said: "I would support such services 100 per cent, because as a mother and grandmother I remember when my children were babies. I took them with me everywhere that I went and nursed them on demand. It was not unusual if I was at a store to ask for a chair to sit and breastfeed them right there."
Can the Government make this service compulsory at workplaces? She said she would have to be advised by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi. But she believes employers ought to buy into these services, and said that personally, she would have no problem being a part of a national plan to provide maternal services.
"That can only benefit the society. I am a firm believer in breastfeeding on demand and not breastfeeding at certain prescribed time," said Baptiste-Primus.She said at the next heads of department meeting, she would table the issue and get feedback from colleagues.
On the matter of day care services at workplaces, Baptiste-Primus said she could discuss this with her colleague at the Ministry of Gender, Ayanna Webster-Roy.
�2 Next week: Khadijah Ameen, Deputy Political Leader of the UNC, talks about parenting and the workplace.
Activists agree
"I think it is a good initiative. It may encourage the younger generation of mothers to breastfeed." –Single Fathers Association President, Rondell Feeles
"The wellbeing of mothers and their children is all of our business, and requires interventions and policies regarding employment, maternal health services, transportation services, etc. There must also be a focus on the economics, including the cost to the economy of not providing these facilities. The Network will launch its campaign, Every Woman–Every Child, in October which focuses on developing a road map to realising the rights of women, children and adolescents to quality healthcare and wellbeing."–Women's rights activist, Hazel Brown
"Creating parent-friendly workplaces is a big challenge in T&T. So many mothers with young children are working, or single, and so many moms have to go back to work soon after delivery. Raising our nation's children to be healthy and safe is a shared responsibility. Every step helps. Employers, including state employers, need to invest in lactation programmes, as well as quality day care. And it can't just be for white-collar workers." –Director of CAISO, Colin Robinson