AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — The choice to breastfeed an infant is a deeply personal choice for a mother. While breastfeeding is an encouraged and beneficial practice, there are many outside factors that can influence a mother’s decision. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, in 2019, less than 40% of Alabama infants were exclusively breastfed at three months and less than 38% were still breastfeeding at six months.

Workplace Barriers

Research indicates that employment status and workplace environment are primary factors that influence a mother’s decision to breastfeed or not. In fact, according to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, workplace challenges continue to be the number one reason mothers never breastfeed or stop breastfeeding earlier than normal.

“Too often mothers feel like they’re unable to work a part- or full-time job and breastfeed their child,” said Helen Jones, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System human sciences regional agent. “This is disheartening. Mothers who breastfeed need time and support to begin and continue their journey.”

August is World Breastfeeding Month, and the 2023 theme is This is Our Why. This annual recognition is used to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and provide support to mothers who breastfeed. As a part of the month’s efforts, World Breastfeeding Week is observed Aug. 1-7 annually. To address the workplace barriers that many parents may encounter, the United States Breastfeeding Committee set this year’s theme as Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a Difference for Working Parents. 

Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care

Human Sciences Extension (HSE) agents offer support for mothers and breastfed babies through educational resources. Most notably, the HSE team facilitates training for child care providers throughout the state to help them become breastfeeding friendly.

“A workplace must have appropriate facilities to become a breastfeeding-friendly workplace,” Jones said.

The Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care Certification is a collaborative effort of Alabama Extension, the Alabama Department of Public Health, Alabama Partnership for Children and the Alabama Breastfeeding Committee. Jones provides this training for Alabama child care facilities.

“All child care providers–including home-based, center-based, licensed or license-exempt providers–may apply for this certification,” Jones said. “A list of certified providers is available on the Alabama Extension website.”

Find this list on the Alabama Certified Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care Providers web page at www.aces.edu. As a part of the certification, Extension provides a toolkit that details the five requirements to becoming certified. Extension also provides resources for the providers to achieve each step, as well as technical assistance to help all interested providers reach certification.

Fighting Misconceptions

This training curriculum aims to ease the minds of working mothers who send their children to daycare centers. Jones said the HSE team supports working mothers by providing information that they can use at home and at work.

“The most important things we can do is work together to fight misconceptions and help working parents understand how they can work and breastfeed—one is not mutually exclusive of the other,” Jones said. “By providing mothers with information to help them make their decision based on facts, we hope to help Alabama mothers healthily and successfully breastfeed their babies.”

More Information

Find more Alabama Extension resources by visiting www.aces.edu/blog/tag/breastfeeding.