The Star Online

Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Woman

Breastfeeding at work

Favourable conditions in the workplace go a long way to encouraging breastfeeding among working mothers. In conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week (Aug 1 to 7), SHAMALA VELU takes a peek into a little room set up by a thoughtful employer for its breastfeeding mums, and comes away sufficiently impressed.

WAN Sabrina Mohamad has a quick lunch and then hurries off with a breast pump into the “Mother’s Room” where she spends about 15 to 20 minutes of her lunch break expressing milk.

“Breastfeeding is something I hold close to my heart,” says Sabrina, 30, a senior industrial hygienist who works for Motorola Malaysia in Petaling Jaya.

A mother of three, Sabrina takes pride in breastfeeding all her children. In fact, her youngest, a nine-month-old boy, is still taking breast milk thanks, to his mother’s disciplined attitude.

Sabrina’s colleague, Dayang Lily, 29, shares her sentiments about breastfeeding.

Lily, a systems engineer and mother of two, has been breastfeeding her 10-month-old baby girl, thanks to the facilities provided in the office.

“It really helps if there’s a private room in the office for mothers to express milk. This will encourage them to continue breastfeeding,” said Lily.

Lily and Sabrina, who have been working for Motorola for the past seven years, consider themselves lucky mothers.

Unlike most mums who have had to give up breastfeeding completely soon after they return to work, Lily and Sabrina, who have heard so much about the benefits of breast milk, have the satisfaction of providing their babies with the best.

“It doesn’t cost much to set up the room and supply a refrigerator,” said human resource manager Latifah M. Daud who is also breastfeeding her infant.

Most mothers pump three times a day–during coffee break in the morning, lunch time and tea time. Anyone using the room must sign in and sign out after leaving..

“Before storing expressed milk in the refrigerator, milk bottles have to be tagged with the mother’s name and phone extension number to avoid any mix-up,” explained Dayang.

The milk is later taken home in a cooler box to feed the baby.

The “Mother’s Room” is sub-divided into two to cater to two people at any one time. Although it is not furnished with a breast pump just yet, it has two cabinet drawers and a refrigerator.

Creating awareness on breastfeeding is high on Motorola’s agenda for the year as it concurs with the company’s programme on “Preventive Health Medicine” which starts this month.

So how was the “Mother’s Room” initiated?

According to Latifah, it was a group of young mothers who first approached her early last year.

“They were using the surau and the office clinic to express milk during the day but it was not very conducive as there was no privacy and proper washing amenities,” she explained.

Privacy and security for the mothers were important considerations which had to be looked into, said Latifah.

It was only early this year that the Mother’s Room was conceived. However, the focus now is on creating awareness on hygiene when breastfeeding.

“We are planning to rent a breast pump as it is more efficient and faster,” explained Latifah.

If the response is good, more Mother’s Rooms may be set up in various sections of the office building, said Latifah.

With its worker-oriented approach, it is little wonder that Motorola was given the “Caring Employer Award” by the Human Resources Ministry last Saturday for initiating various programmes for the benefit and welfare of its staff.

“The cost is high, but the returns are good because they come in the form of higher productivity and fewer medical leave,” said Latifah.

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