As many mothers return to work before their baby is six months old and around 40 per cent when their baby is aged one, the workplace has an important role to play in encouraging and assisting mothers to breastfeed their babies. Many women would like to continue to breastfeed their baby at work but are unable to do so as their workplaces do not have suitable areas for the purpose.
The Baby Feeding Programme (BFP) is a self assessment industry programme which provides employers with the opportunity to support best practice infant nutrition in the workplace. The Programme supports employees who wish to return to work and maintain a breastfeeding relationship with their child by breastfeeding, or expressing breast milk for their baby in the workplace. If an employee has made the decision to formula feed their baby, appropriate support should also be made available to these employees.