More than 3,000 parents and babies thronged the National Trades Union Congress’ third Baby’s Day Out – My First National Day bash at The Lawn@Marina Bay today to set the record of Singapore’s largest national flag made up of more than 1,000 milk bottles in a show of support to baby-friendly practices at the workplace.
Touted as Singapore’s largest National Day party for babies, Baby’s Day Out is organised by the Labour Movement’s U Family every year as a networking event for parents with babies to come together to exchange parenting tips and celebrate their babies’ milestones. This year, the event takes on a new meaning as it serves to remind Singaporeans that having babies and bringing up a family is an invaluable experience that one should look forward to and cherish.
As we celebrate Singapore’s 47th birthday with the theme, “Loving Singapore, Our Home”, it is timely that we reaffirm our love for our families who form the cornerstone of Our Home. As a strong advocate for family-friendly practices at the workplace, U Family called on more enlightened employers to support back-to-work breastfeeding mothers through providing flexible lactation breaks; and office building owners to provide functional nursing and family corners.
Working mothers are an integral and important segment of our workforce, but many breastfeeding mothers often face challenges when they return to work after their maternity leave as their work environment do not support exclusive breastfeeding.
U Family Survey on Breastfeeding
According to a U Family Survey on Breastfeeding conducted in April 2012, 1,295 (98 per cent) out of 1,318 respondents comprising married women were aware of the health benefits to mothers and babies if babies are breastfed for a minimum of six months, and yet 30 per cent of mothers said they weaned off breastfeeding before their babies turned six months old when they returned to work.
Close to 50 per cent that did not breastfeed or plan not to breastfeed for at least six months felt that there was lack of support at the workplace such as lactation breaks and functional lactation rooms, while half of the respondents said employer support at the workplace was “most important” for them to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.
Despite the challenges faced at their workplaces, many working mothers still continued breastfeeding after returning to work. They persevered as they believed in the benefits of breast milk for their babies for the first six months of their babies’ lives, and the nursing mother’s commitment plays a big part in making this happen.
Some challenges cited by those who stopped breastfeeding completely before returning to work included inconvenience, non-conducive office environment, disruption to work, lack of time to express milk during office hours and lack of support from employers and co-workers.
Some 798 respondents said they would approach their direct reporting officer or human resource representative to request for it, if their employer was not providing any of these support. Many believed it is the basic right of a female employee and breastfeeding mothers should be given lactation support by the company. Others felt that it is important for mothers to be given the opportunity to breastfeed the baby for at least six months and this encourages new mothers to return to work.
If their employer still did not provide support for breastfeeding after they had requested for it, nearly half (48 per cent) respondents admitted they would stop breastfeeding or cut down on their pumping sessions altogether.
Regarding the type of support respondents wanted to see from their employer in terms of supporting women at the workplace, 585 (44 per cent) said they wanted lactation support such as functional lactation rooms, lactation breaks and storage facilities. 309 (23 per cent) wanted the option of flexible work arrangements and 276 (21 per cent) hoped for employers to be more understanding and accommodating towards breastfeeding mothers. (See Annex 1 for full survey findings)
Enhancement of Baby-Family Practices
U Family believes that employers and line managers should strive for work-life integration for all employees, and back-to-work breastfeeding mothers. This helps to create a societal norm on the importance of work-life integration. In response to the survey findings, U Family looks forward to having:
Breastfeeding mothers typically require at least 20 to 30 minutes to prepare and express their breast milk. Employers and line managers need to understand this and work out a flexible arrangement with the mothers so that they could pump beyond their regular meal breaks.
There is currently no requirement for building owners to provide family or nursing rooms in office buildings, including those in the Central Business District. It is therefore not uncommon for nursing mothers to pump their breast milk in toilets and utility rooms, which is unhygienic. Owners of office buildings, and selective public areas which have a considerable workforce size and financial resources should consider building infrastructure that is baby-friendly. Giving nursing mothers access to a safe, clean and private area equipped with appropriate storage facilities in or near their workplaces will encourage them to carry on the practice.
Ms Toh Hwee Tin, Director of NTUC’s U Family said: “U Family shares with these families the joys of parenthood, and the wonderful experience of having babies and children. This community of working families showcases that there is more to pursuing a career; it tells of the love, the laughter and the sense of purpose in life that every child brings to their family and the community. It is a timely reminder on Singapore’s National Day that babies are important to the growth of our country. This year, our focus is on supporting new mothers in the community and at workplaces. The mother’s breast milk is free and breast milk is the best gift a parent can give to her baby. Our community and workplaces must support these mothers for their babies’ optimal growth and also for maternal health.”
One employer supportive of breastfeeding is Sembcorp Industries which not only provides hospital grade lactation pumps but also a steriliser and refrigerator in its nursing room. Sembcorp started providing such benefits in its Jurong Island office even though a vast majority of their employees there are male, as it saw the lack of such facilities for new mothers given the industrial nature of the work environment. The facilities were well-received and Sembcorp then decided to offer the same facilities at their corporate headquarters as well. (See Annex 2 for details)
It was the first time Baby’s Day Out – My First National Day was held outdoors and admission was free. Among some of the fringe activities organised by U Family included free nutrition and weaning advice corners, baby food-making demonstrations, baby food sampling and baby crawling contests. There was also a special nursing and diaper changing area provided for parents with babies and toddlers.
