An Employee’s Guide to Combining Breastfeeding with work

21The health benefits of breastfeeding on babies and mothers are well established. The longer babies are breastfed, the more health benefits moth-ers and their babies will have. According to the World Health Organization’s recommendation, babies should be breastfed exclusively in the first six months and continue to be breastfed until two years or above while solid food is being introduced to their diet. Making breastfeeding compatible with work is a real challenge for working mothers. Nevertheless, returning to work would not be a barrier to breastfeeding if you are well prepared before your maternity leave starts.

Getting Support from the Management and CoworkersWhen to Express Your Wish?1. During pregnancy and before maternity leave starts Discuss with the Management about the importance of breastfeeding and your intention to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. Communicate clearly the specific support you need that enables you to express breastmilk at work. This will facilitate the management to make a better work arrangement for you and better preparation for the workplace.

2. After returning to work

Show your appreciation to the management and coworkers for their support to your breastfeeding. Keep your promises about the work arrangement, lactation breaks, use of breast milk expression area and milk storage facility. Talk to your coworkers to understand their con- cerns and work together to find solutions.

A private space (e.g. an unoccupied conference room or a cur- tained cubicle) with a chair, a table and an electric outlet for operating a breastmilk pump; and

Flexible lactation breaks to express breastmilk.

A refrigerator for keeping the expressed breastmilk. (the refrigerator in the pantry will do.)”

3 4How to Communicate with the Management about Your Wish to Continue Breastfeeding after Returning to Work

1. Express your gratitude to the management’s support at work

2. Stress the importance of breastfeeding and your decision to breastfeed

e.g. “After speaking with my doctor and other health professionals, I have made the decision to breastfeed as it can provide the best nutrition and protection to my baby. Moreover, my doctor tells me that breast- feeding is important in preventing many illnesses and diseases for both my baby and me.” 3. Express your specific needs

e.g. “For me to continue breastfeeding while at work, I have several basic needs:

Generally, I need about two lactation breaks, each lasts for thirty minutes, in a working day. If an extra lactation break is required, I will make use of my non-office hours (e.g. before starting work, lunch time, after office hours);

4. Discuss possible options of work arrangement

e.g. “I would like to work with you in making preparations and find options that will enable me to continue breastfeeding with minimum work disturbance.”

5 6Practical Tips and Reminders1. Gain support from your family Discuss your decision to breastfeed with your partner and family and seek their support and cooperation. Your family can feed the baby with your expressed breastmilk while you are away. Remind your family to pay an attention to the baby’s signs of hunger and fullness and not to overfeed. If a baby is overfed in day time, the desire to direct breast- feeding will be reduced when a mother returns to home at night.

2. Learn how to express breastmilk by hands or using a milk pump

The production of breastmilk depends on the baby’s demand. The more you breastfeed your baby, the more milk you will produce. If you cannot directly breastfeed your baby, a regular removal of breastmilk every three to four hours by expression is necessary to maintain milk produc- tion. Expressing the milk out also helps to relieve breast fullness when direct breastfeeding is not feasible. Therefore, you need to learn and be familiar with milk expression techniques by hands or using a milk pump (either a manual or electric one). You can refer to the resources listed in this booklet.

3. Equipment preparation: a manual or an electric milk pump, milk

bottles or bags and a cooler with ice packs

You have to get the equipment for milk expression and storage ready before returning to work. All the equipment should be properly cleansed and kept clean before use.

4. Practice breastmilk expression and build up your breastmilk store

two weeks ahead of returning to work Practice makes perfect. The more and earlier you practice, the sooner you will get familiar with the techniques of breastmilk expression and the fewer hiccups you will encounter. You can also set up a small breast- milk store for your baby by pumping one to two extra times a day and keeping it in the refrigerator about two to three weeks before you return to work.

5. Strike a balance between work and breastfeeding

Breastfeed your baby well before you leave home in the morning. At work, express breastmilk when needed. Store your expressed breastmilk properly. Breastfeed your baby directly as soon as you arrive home from work. Give unrestricted, direct breastfeeds during the weekends and days off.

6. What can I do if I need to express more frequently at work?

After returning to work, some mothers may need more frequent and longer breaks for expression because, for example, they may not yet be used to expressing milk in the new environment. In that case, you may use your non-working time, e.g. lunch hour, time before starting or after work, for milk expression. Nevertheless, if you need very frequent milk expression, you may have breastfeeding problems such as ineffective expression or overproduction of breastmilk. You should seek medical advice, or sustainability of breastfeeding maybe affected.

FHS-BF 14A (Rev Jun 2015)

Website www.fhs.gov.hk24-hour information hotline 2112 9900

Breastfeeding hotline 3618 7450

Resources on

Breastfeeding of the

Department of Health

If you want to know more about breastfeeding, you may:

-Visit the website of the Family Health Service of the Department of Health (DH) at www.fhs.gov.hk

Resource booklet “Love ‧ Starts from breastfeeding...”: http://s.fhs.gov.hk/ymavo

Breastfeeding audiovisual resources: http://s.fhs.gov.hk/ambt7

Frequently Asked Questions on Breastfeeding: http://s.fhs.gov.hk/4kp2t

-Seek advice from health professionals or Maternity and Child Health Centres

-Call DH’s Breastfeeding Hotline: 3618 7450

僱員指引 母乳餵哺與工作相容

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母乳餵哺對母親及寶寶的好處良多，不容置疑，寶寶多吃一天母乳，對雙方健康就會多一些好處。世界衛生組織建議，寶寶出生

後首六個月應以全母乳餵哺，到大約六個月起便逐漸引進適當的固

體食物，並持續餵哺母乳至兩歲或以上。在職媽媽要做到母乳餵哺

與工作相容，確是一項挑戰，若你在產假前準備充足，返回工作崗

位亦將不會成為餵哺母乳的障礙。

跟主管好好溝通，說明母乳餵哺如何重要，以及你重返工作

崗位後，繼續餵哺母乳的意願。你需要清楚表達，在工作間

擠母乳所需的具體支援，以便管理層為你安排更合適的工

作，並把工作間準備好。

尋求主管及同事支持何時表達你的意願？1. 懷孕期間及產假前

2. 重回工作崗位後 對主管及同事支持你餵哺母乳表示感激。履行在產假前跟主

管定下的工作安排，遵循使用授乳時段、授乳地方及儲存母

乳設施的承諾。多與同事溝通，了解他們的憂慮，一起解決

問題。

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3如何與主管溝通你重返工作崗位後繼續餵哺母乳的需要？1. 對主管在工作上的支援，表示感激

2. 強調母乳餵哺如何重要以及你決定選擇餵哺母乳

例子：「跟醫生及其他專業醫護人員商討後，我已決定餵哺

母乳，因為母乳能為寶寶提供最佳的營養及保護。此外，醫

生告訴我，母乳餵哺能為我及寶寶預防多種疾病。」

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3. 表達具體需要

例子：「為了可以在上班時繼續餵哺母乳，我有幾項基本需要：

彈性授乳時段擠母乳

在一般情況下，每個工作天我需要大概兩次授乳時段，每

次三十分鐘。如需要額外授乳時段，我會利用非辦公時間

（例如：開始辦公前、午飯、辦公時間過後）；

一個設有座椅、桌子、電插座（連接母乳泵）以及具私隱

的空間（例如：閒置的會議室或裝有簾子的空間）；及

保存母乳的雪櫃（茶水間的雪櫃便可）。

4. 商討可行的工作安排

例子：「我想跟你商量如何準備和找出可行的安排，讓我可

在對工作影響最小的情況下，繼續餵哺母乳。」

5實用「貼士」及提示1. 獲取家人支持 與伴侶、家人商量你選擇餵哺母乳的決定，尋求他們支持和

配合。當媽媽不在家的時候，家人可用你泵出來的母乳餵哺

孩子。提醒家人留意寶寶的飽餓信號，不要過度餵食。若日

間吃得過量，便會減低寶寶在晚上、媽媽回家後，直接吸吮

母乳的意欲，媽媽的奶量便可能因此而減少。

2. 學習如何使用手或母乳泵擠母乳 母乳是按寶寶需求而製造，越是勤於母乳餵哺，造奶量亦越

多。如果你沒法直接餵哺寶寶，便需要有規律地每隔三至四

小時擠母乳，以保持母乳產量。當直接餵哺不可行時，擠母

乳也有助紓緩乳房脹痛。因此，你需要學習和熟悉使用手或

母乳泵（不論是手動或電動）擠母乳的技巧。你可參考本小

册子內有關母乳餵哺的資源。

3. 準備用具：手動或電動母乳泵、奶瓶或奶袋、冰袋及 冰種 你必須在重返工作崗位之前，準備好泵和儲存母乳的用具。

使用所有用具前，必須正確地清洗和保持清潔。

4. 重返工作崗位前兩周開始練習擠母乳及建立母乳庫

熟能生巧，越多和越早開始練習，越快熟習泵奶技巧，將遇

到的問題亦會越少。你也可在重返工作崗位兩至三周前，每

天額外擠母乳一至兩次，放進雪櫃儲存，以便為寶寶建立一

個小型母乳庫。

5. 平衡工作及母乳餵哺

早上離家前先直接餵哺了寶寶，工作時有需要便擠母乳，並

妥善存放。下班回家後便盡快直接餵哺寶寶，周末及休假時

則按寶寶需要、沒有限制地直接餵哺。

6. 如我需在上班時較頻密地擠母乳，可怎樣處理？ 有些媽媽在返回工作崗位後，需要較頻密和較長的時間來擠

母乳，其中一個例子是因為她們尚未適應在一個新環境擠母

乳。如遇到這情況，可利用非辦公時間（例如：午飯、辦公

前或後的時間）來擠母乳。不過，如果你需要十分頻密地擠

母乳，可能是在母乳餵哺上出現問題，例如擠母乳技巧不正

確或產奶過多等。你應向醫護人員尋求專業意見，以免影響

持續餵哺母乳。

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網頁 www.fhs.gov.hk24小時資訊熱線 2112 9900

母乳餵哺熱線 3618 7450FHS-BF 14B (2015年6修訂)

-諮詢醫護人員或母嬰健康院的意見

-致電衞生署母乳餵哺熱線：3618 7450

衞生署母乳餵哺資源

如想知道更多母乳餵哺資訊，你可以：

-瀏覽衞生署家庭健康服務的網站www.fhs.gov.hk： 「愛 ‧ 從母乳開始……」小冊子： http://s.fhs.gov.hk/0zni2 母乳餵哺視像資訊： http://s.fhs.gov.hk/tma8x 母乳餵哺常見疑問： http://s.fhs.gov.hk/k3vb6