Being separated from your baby while you are at work does not mean you need to give up
breast-feeding. Once the breast-feeding relationship is established (when the
baby is about six weeks old, but ideally when he or she is three months or older) the mother can express and store milk for baby's consumption in her absence.
Many women find discreet ways of expressing milk during brief breaks at work. Doing so, at least every three hours, builds up the baby's stock of milk for the following day and also helps to keep the process of milk production going through breast stimulation.
These breaks need not interfere with the woman's productivity as they can be combined with lunch and tea intervals. Any qualms which an employer may have could easily be set at rest by the fact that fewer ailments in her child means that a mother's absenteeism from work, to care for a sick child, will be much reduced.
Each year research confirms the importance of babies being fed exclusively on breast-milk for about the first six months of their lives.
Research has also shown the enormous value of continuing the breast-feeding relationship for two years and more, while giving the child adequate complementary foods.
Breast-milk provides optimal nourishment for infants and significantly reduces the risks of certain illnesses, including urinary tract infections, diarrhoea and respiratory tract/ear infections which are amongst the most common infant and childhood ailments.
The act of breast-feeding is an essential component of good child care, contributing to a child's healthy growth and psychosocial development.
Breast-feeding also reduces women's risk of breast and ovarian cancer, iron deficiency anaemia, and hip fracture.