The development of a supportive attitude can begin when the father of the baby engages in the support of the laboring woman. Improving the birth experience for the father is a significant means of helping them feel closer to their baby. It will also decrease the likelihood of the father feeling "left out".
Many women express the desire to breastfeed but feel that because they must return to work it would be difficult to start and then have to give up nursing. This thought process is due to the lack of support for breastfeeding in the workplace. Some studies have found that women who continue to breastfeed after returning to work miss less time because of baby-related illnesses and have shorter absences when they do miss work, compared to women who do not breastfeed. Unfortunately, only a tiny percentage of American companies provide new mothers with break time of facilities for pumping.
Thinking ahead may help bridge the gap between what women want from their employer and what they actually get. For example, each woman could consider speaking with her boss about the many prestigious medical and children's advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and UNICEF which strongly encourage employers to facilitate the continuation of breastfeeding when women return to work.4 Providing accurate information about the current medical recommendations and economic benefits of breastfeeding before maternity leave may also help foster a deepening appreciation for the job of nursing a newborn.
NOTES
- Lawrence, Ruth. Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 6th ed. ( Pennsylvania: Elsevier, Mosby, 2005)
- Lawrence, Ruth. Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 6th ed. ( Pennsylvania: Elsevier, Mosby, 2005)
- Friedman, Kenneth. One Father's Perspective on Demand Nursing. From an article which originally appeared in Mothering Magazine in 1995.
- Baldwin, Elizabeth. Working It Out: Breastfeeding at Work. From an article which originally appeared in Mothering Magazine in 1999.
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