The media have been reporting today on the lack of legal protection in the UK for women to express milk or breastfeed when back at work. This is one of the reasons women cited for stopping breastfeeding in the U.K. National Infant Feeding Survey.
Media coverage of WBTi’s findings on gaps in Maternity Protection in the UK
The latest report on women’s rights to expressing breaks and facilities at work can be found in Indicator 4 on Maternity Protection in the WBTi report.
The media seized upon our findings on the lack of maternity protection, in particular the lack of any statutory rights for mothers to breastfeed or express milk at work.
There are resources to support employed mothers, and resources to guide best practice for employers (from Maternity Action and from ACAS), but mothers have no rights in law beyond basic health and safety.
Our findings received coverage by Laura Bates in the Guardian
and by Sophie Borland in the Daily Mail
The Daily Mail even featured a paragraph about how Sarah Willingham from Dragon’s Den balanced breastfeeding with her boardroom responsibilities.
Update on gaps in Shared Parental Leave
Ros Bragg from Maternity Action has also written this blog for WBTi about the current legal rights of breastfeeding mothers in the workplace, with the onset of Shared Parental Leave.
What has YOUR experience been, combining breastfeeding and returning to work?
Follow our blog and
Sign up for updates on WBTi UK here
Joint Coordinator of the
WBTi UK Steering Group. She is one of the co-authors of Maternity Action’s “Accommodating Breastfeeding at Work: Guidance for Employers”
Breastfeeding trends (UK) 