ALMOST HALF OF SPANISH MOTHERS STILL HAVE TROUBLE RECONCILING BREASTFEEDING AND WORK AWAY FROM HOME

The reconciliation of work life and motherhood is progressing, although there is still a long way to go. This is what follows from 'The II Study on Conciliation and Breastfeeding', prepared by the company Suavinex.

According to this report:

One in ten nursing mothers leaves their career to be able to reconcile.
One in two working mothers says they have not felt the support of their entire work environment to reconcile.
43.77% of Spanish nursing mothers have trouble reconciling breastfeeding with their employment status.

And yet, these figures are below those of 2016.

This study, which includes 2003 mothers, shows that the conditions to reconcile breastfeeding and work away from home have improved in the last year: from 50.5% women with problems in 2016 to 43.77% in 2017.

The inconveniences to reconcile seem more present in the big national companies from the tertiary sector (finance, tourism, hospitality, transportation, health, education), where more than half of working mothers have reported complications.

With these conclusions, it is clear that there is still a long way to go in the field of conciliation. In fact, only 50.71% of the participants in the study have stated that they felt the support and understanding of their work environment in relation to their breastfeeding, with similar results the previous year.

Abandonment of breastfeeding due to work causes

38.43% of respondents have stated that they have not been able to integrate breastfeeding into their work routine.
61.92% of women have considered abandoning breastfeeding.
One in ten (9.55%) Spanish mothers have abandoned their work career against their initial will.
58.22% of the participants in the study do not reach the year of breastfeeding, despite the fact that 85.02% claim to be in favor of prolonged breastfeeding.

In Babies and more, they publish the 'Legal Guide to Breastfeeding': know all your rights as a nursing mother

Yes to conciliation

There is a positive progression in terms of social awareness about the importance of conciliation and a cultural change that leaves the idea of giving up one of the facets of women's lives.

It is another of the conclusions that emerge from this study: the percentage of mothers who decide not to opt for any alternative conciliation is reduced to practically a third, from 36% in 2016 to 12.24% in 2017.

In Babies and more Reconciliation of work and family life: a long way to go

But we must continue fighting to defend our rights: up to 40.64% of the mothers surveyed have felt uncomfortable when requesting a reduction in working hours.

And the same goes for 35.78% of mothers who have decided to opt for milk extraction or with 37.47% of those who use their time for breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is the best for our children and the ideal is to continue breastfeeding, a choice that does not mean, or should not mean, having to leave our career.

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