How JMMB makes breastfeeding work

LAST week, National Breastfeeding Week was celebrated under the theme “Breastfeeding and Work — Let’s Make it Work” with the main objectives being to promote baby-friendly environments and supportive practices towards breastfeeding, as well as raising awareness of the need to strengthen national legislation to protect the breastfeeding rights of women in the workplace.

Experts at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) made the point during their lead-up to World Breastfeeding Week, which took place from August 1 to 7, that employers who support breastfeeding by their female employees are not only taking the ethical high road, they are likely to reap benefits for their businesses and their countries’ economies.

“The benefits of breastfeeding extend to mother and baby, and promoting breastfeeding policies in the workplace is essential,” said Dr Carissa F Etienne, director of PAHO.

“Employers also stand to benefit as it leads to happier, more dependable and productive employees.”

Locally, one business that has made such a move is Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) with the inclusion of a breastfeeding corner in its nursery.

Chief Group Strategy Officer at JMMB, Government senator and mother of three, Imani Duncan-Price, told All Woman that when her father’s first wife Joan Duncan started JMMB, she was very clear that she wanted a workplace that allowed its team members facilities and services that provided a better work-life balance and pointed out that other employers should work towards this.

“If you are going to celebrate family, celebrate it in total,” Duncan-Price said. “Pregnancy is a miracle and blessing from the divine. Even though you’re carrying a child in three trimesters, it doesn’t stop there. What’s critical for a child’s transition to this world is what we call the fourth trimester — first three months of life.”

Duncan-Price added that as mothers, it is natural to try and ensure that in the first three months of life, children are protected and nurtured as when they were inside the womb. She added that paediatricians recommend breastfeeding exclusively for six months once you can breastfeed; however, maternity leave only extends to three months — two paid and one unpaid, which makes it tedious for mothers to nurse.

“Imagine when you go back to work. Most office spaces don’t have a place to breastfeed or pump, so women have to go to the bathroom to pump or express the milk and try to save it in a fridge. On the other hand, some people can’t afford a pump. And breastfeeding is important as it has the essential nutrients and helps with bonding, safety and security,” she said.

“After three months of feeding a baby regularly, when you go back to work if you don’t have a place to feed or pump it will impact the flow of your breast milk, as the more you feed, the more milk you produce. A key part of keeping your breast milk production up is keeping a schedule where you regularly feed your child so your body knows. It is how God designed the whole process,” Duncan-Price said.

With the nursery and breastfeeding corner on hand at JMMB, she said she was able to schedule her meetings for the first three months back at work in a way which allowed her to pop out of her office to go to the nursery — behind JMMB’s head office — to breastfeed and continue bonding with her child, while learning what her patterns were like.

“Emotionally it can be difficult to go back to work after having a baby. JMMB, having invested in that type of space, made coming back to work easier and I was able to be productive. That is the whole point why Aunty Joan invested in it. It enables productivity. It’s hard on a new mother to be back and forth,” she stated.

Duncan-Price also added that male employees also benefit as they get the time to see their babies in the nursery and maintain bonds. She said the design of the area also facilitates relaxation, which is important for the nursing process.

“Relaxation is important for breastfeeding because if you’re under stress it impacts your production of breast milk. The entire look of the place puts the mothers in a mental space to feed a child,” she said.

She acknowledged the fact that not every new mother can breastfeed, but made an appeal for women to allow their babies to latch on as soon as they’re born.

“I’ve been fortunate to have wonderful birthing experiences and I made my doctor promise that as my babies were born they would latch. They have a thing called the breast crawl where they go from your belly and crawl up to your breasts when they’re born. All of them [three children] latched,” she said,

Duncan-Price made an appeal for more companies to invest in such a development as it will affect their bottom line.

“By virtue of breastfeeding they [babies] get your immunity. Support healthy families, look at making the investment, and even if you can’t have a full nursery, look at having a place in the workplace that can facilitate a mother with breastfeeding, which would allow her to pump and maintain that flow. Every action we take as companies will add up and make a difference,” she said.