Public policy and breast-feeding: a straightforward and significant solution

Ensuring working mothers' ability to breast-feed is crucial given that breast-feeding substantially reduces infant morbidity and mortality while promoting maternal health. Working conditions, rules on the job, supervisors and co-workers can all raise or lower barriers to breast-feeding. Around the world, 127 countries guarantee working women the right to breast-feed. Canada does not provide this assurance, despite the fact that the majority of infants are born to women in the labour force. This has profound implications for the health of infants and mothers alike. Solutions exist: extending current policies to ensure adequate maternity leave is available for all Canadians, legislating a right to breast-feed while working, and adapting workplaces to make this practical.