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Breastfeeding and Work – Let’s Make it Work
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08/05/2015 LICKING COUNTY, OHIO – One of the most important things businesses and the community can do is to allow mothers to feel comfortable nursing in public. The Licking County Health Department is promoting Breastfeeding Awareness Month in Ohio this month. Additionally, Aug. 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week (WBW).
Hungry babies need to eat and Ohio law (Section 3781.55 of the Ohio Revised Code) allows breastfeeding in public. Businesses can show their support by placing the “Nursing Babies are Welcome Here” universal sign for breastfeeding in their windows and educate their staffs on the acceptance of breastfeeding in their establishments. They can also encourage their employees by providing a private space (other than a bathroom) to pump.
“Ultimately, our whole society benefits from having healthier mothers, babies and children,” said Joe Ebel, Licking County Health Commissioner. “When breastfeeding is promoted, protected and supported the monetary and life-saving benefits of breastfeeding benefit the community.”
Taking action to provide breastfeeding accommodations at work can increase employee retention and reduce medical costs. This year’s WBW theme is Breastfeeding and Work – Let’s Make it Work, and Ohio WIC’s motto is Working Together for Breastfeeding Success.
Breastfeeding is a personal choice, but communities play a vital role in informing and supporting a mother’s decision to breastfeed her baby. Creating a breastfeeding supportive culture requires the efforts by family, friends, employers, educational institutions, hospitals and businesses.
Educational institutions can support breastfeeding by presenting age appropriate education on the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Local county fairs can teach young children about how other mammals feed their young with milk that is made just for them. Child care providers and libraries can also stock children’s books that show breastfeeding as a normal part of family life. Breastfeeding mothers can reach out through groups and classes to get the support they need to feel normal in a formula feeding culture.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding with the addition of appropriate solid food for the first year and beyond. For more information about breastfeeding in Ohio please call the Help Me Grow Helpline at 1-800-755-GROW, or the Licking County WIC Program at (740) 349-6474.
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