營造親善哺乳職場

Fostering a Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace

推廣哺育母乳以提升嬰幼兒之健康，為台灣和世界各國重要的嬰幼兒健康議題。在被支持與鼓勵的環境下，婦女才能分泌充足的乳汁餵養寶寶並兼顧自己身心的健康。產後需要恢復上班往往是婦女沒有哺乳或是提早斷奶的主要原因。本文目的敘述國際與台灣工作場所中親善哺乳措施的實施現況和支持婦女持續哺乳之重要因素。婦女產後休假的時間越長，母乳哺育意願較高，哺乳持續的時間也越久。相較於其他國家而言，台灣的產假時間較短，因此職場環境是否能支持婦女兼顧工作與母乳哺育相當重要。雖然有法定每天一小時的哺集乳時間，但因工作忙碌或是無適當場所可以擠乳，職場婦女要持續哺乳並不是件容易的事情。職場中彈性的工作狀況、具隱密性的擠乳空間、主管的認同和同事的支持是營造友善母乳哺育工作場所的重要關鍵。

Creating supportive environments that encourage mothers to breastfeed their children has emerged in recent years as a key health issue for women and children. Taiwan has a large and still growing number of new mothers in the workplace. Early postpartum return to work and inconvenient workplace conditions often discourage women from breastfeeding or cause early discontinuation. This study describes the current status of worksite breastfeeding-friendly policies in Taiwan and selected other countries and assesses the effects of work-related factors on working mother breastfeeding behavior. Although maternity leave has been positively correlated with breastfeeding duration, maternity leave in Taiwan remains significantly shorter than in other countries. Flexible working conditions, the provision of lactation rooms, and support from colleagues are critical components of promoting breastfeeding in the workplace.