On the FB page of Lactation Consultants Slovenia, you can find interesting posts, including this one:
The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary feeding until the age of two years or longer. In the second year, breast milk still provides protection for the child against certain infectious diseases, and with each month of breastfeeding, protection for both the child and the mother against today’s chronic non-communicable diseases increases.
Studies examining the effects of breastfeeding on the health of the child and the mother confirm a positive, dose-dependent impact on both. So, it makes sense to recommend continuing breastfeeding even after the child’s first year.
6 POSITIVE EFFECTS OF BREASTFEEDING IN THE SECOND YEAR:
1. Breastfeeding provides significant protection against infections even in the second year of life.
2. Children who are breastfed longer are less likely to develop obesity in childhood and adolescence.
3. The effect of breastfeeding on a child’s cognitive development is proportional to the total amount of breast milk consumed.
4. Breastfeeding for a year or more significantly reduces the mother’s risk of breast cancer.
5. Breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of ovarian cancer; the reduction is directly proportional to the duration of breastfeeding.
6. Breastfeeding for longer than 12 months reduces the mother’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Source: Marjetka Žefran Drole, MD, specialist in pediatrics, IBCLC; Breastfeeding after 12 months – medical aspects. Proceedings: Breastfeeding and Work – Making It Work (2015). UNICEF Slovenia National Committee for the Promotion of Breastfeeding and the Association of Lactation and Breastfeeding Consultants of Slovenia.
BREASTFEEDING AND WORK
Women’s awareness of the positive aspects of breastfeeding is growing, so many women continue breastfeeding after returning to work. Legislation governing employment relationships supports this and makes it easier to balance work and family life.
Breastfeeding as a legal category also appears in Slovenian labour legislation. The Employment Relationships Act provides special protection against dismissal for breastfeeding employees and protection for employees due to pregnancy and parenthood: a ban on performing certain work during pregnancy and while breastfeeding (Article 184 in connection with Article 146), protection during pregnancy and parenthood regarding night work and overtime (Article 185), and the rights of a breastfeeding mother (Article 188).
Key to a successful return to work and continuing breastfeeding is knowing your rights, reaching an early agreement with your employer, and being clear about your breastfeeding goals and wishes. Breastfeeding employees in Slovenia enjoy a relatively high level of rights and protection, which makes it possible to continue breastfeeding in line with expert recommendations.
An employee who is breastfeeding a child under 18 months of age and works full-time has the right to a breastfeeding break during working hours of at least one hour per day. Conditions for entitlement to a breastfeeding break:
– the child is under 18 months old,
– full-time employment,
– during working hours,
– at least one hour per day.
The break may be scheduled only after one hour of work and no later than one hour before the end of working hours. Break time during the workday counts as working time. The breastfeeding break cannot be used in a way that the employee would work 7 hours and finish work earlier. The right to compensation for the break time is exercised in accordance with the regulations governing parental leave.
What do women need to successfully continue breastfeeding after returning to work?
1. Privacy – a pleasant, intimate space where a woman can breastfeed her child or express milk (it should not be a toilet).
2. Time – a break during working hours.
3. Support from the employer and colleagues.
Source: Barbara Marinko, LL.B.; Legislation and breastfeeding in Slovenia and abroad. Proceedings: Breastfeeding and Work – Making It Work (2015). UNICEF Slovenia National Committee for the Promotion of Breastfeeding and the Association of Lactation and Breastfeeding Consultants of Slovenia.
Read also:
Breastfeeding after the 1st year – dojenje.net
(Too) long breastfeeding? – rumina.si
And they’re still breastfeeding at this “big” age? – iskreni.net
