When a woman marries, her world may change a bit.

But when she begins to carry a child in

her womb, gives birth and raises her bundle of joy, she enters into a completely different world. Yes,
getting pregnant, experiencing labor and raising a child is a natural thing for women. Yet, when it
comes to balancing childcare, especially breastfeeding, with everything else, it takes everyone’s
support.

Whether a woman is working in a formal, informal or home setting, it is the right of both her
and her baby that she be allowed to breastfeed.

“Breastfeeding is indeed a natural act. Yet, in this modern and competitive world,
breastfeeding mothers, especially the ones who work outside the house, face many challenges.” the
AIMI’s chairwoman Mia Sutanto told a press conference in Jakarta recently. “A supportive
environment can help a breastfeeding mother fulfil her role. Let’s be part of it,”

.“I do my best to be disciplined in breastfeeding — from giving it directly to my 6-month-old son as

much as possible when I’m with him, to pumping milk several times when I’m at the office,” Esther
told The Jakarta Post.

She said that her son had had to consume formula to help boost his weight since he was three
months old. “Now, it’s just breast milk and baby food. He’s been free from formula for two weeks
now because his weight is ideal,” said Esther, who started to work outside the house when her son
was four months old.

“Most of my colleagues at the office are actually not familiar with breastfeeding mothers, but
they’re really sympathetic. For example, I can go take five to pump even when I’m in a meeting,” she
said, adding that nevertheless, she has to deal pumping in the restroom because her office doesn’t
provide a lactation room.

Meanwhile, in Semarang, Central Java, 31-year-old Anaka Anindya, said that there were
things that stressed her out, which affected the quantity of her breast milk for her first son.

“It really hurt when people around me said that I didn’t have enough breast milk for my children,”
said Anaka, adding that since she got pregnant she had always planned to exclusively breastfeed her
children.
When Anaka’s first son reached two months old, the baby’s weight wasn’t ideal. It led Anaka giving
her son breast milk from a donor.

“The donor was my husband’s sister-in-law. I decided to do it because I couldn’t stand the situation
— people around me were so noisy about my son’s weight,” said Anaka, a stayed-at-home mother
who also works as a freelance English teacher.

So, when Anaka gave birth to her second child, a daughter, she decided to not hear anything
negative from the crowd. The lowered stress resulting from this move allowed her to breastfeed her
daughter more easily and with enough breast milk.

With all the work that she needs to deal with — taking care of her 11-month-old daughter,
doing the domestic chores and handling her professional duties — Adisti is blessed with sufficient
breast milk.

“Things that challenge me the most come from the work that centers on deadlines. It becomes really
tricky when I’m on a deadline, still have no material to work with, but my daughter just wants to be
alone with me — that’s tough,” Adisti said with a chuckle.

When things get too hard, all Adisti wants is simply some quick time-off. “My husband has
been willing to handle the house so that I can take a few hours of time-off, but I just don’t have the
time yet.”

A gentle response to this tricky situation for a breastfeeding mother in the workforce comes
from Kokok Herdhianto Dirgantoro, CEO of Opal Communications. He has initiated six months’
maternity leave for his female employees.

“The purpose is simple. First, I want to take part in creating Indonesia’s golden generation. Giving six
months’ maternity leave to female employees means that they will have enough time to exclusively
breastfeed their children.

“Second, it’s about the money we will spend on our children’s healthcare. Babies who are breastfed
exclusively for six months and receive continued breastfeeding up until two years of age or beyond
[with complementary foods], will have better stamina,” said Kokok, adding that he’s working toward
a decent lactation room in his office as well as setting up a system that allows female employees
with infants to go home early.
Why breastfeeding matters:

Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and
development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important
implications for the health of mothers. A review of evidence has shown that, on a population basis,
exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants. Thereafter infants should
receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up until 2 years of age or beyond.

Breast milk is the natural first food for babies. It provides all the energy and nutrients that
infants need for the first months of life, and it continues to provide roughly half of a child’s
nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one third during the second year
of life.

Breast milk promotes sensory and cognitive development, and protects the infant against
infectious and chronic diseases. Exclusive breastfeeding reduces infant mortality due to common
childhood illnesses, such as diarrhea or pneumonia, and helps for a quicker recovery during illness.
These benefits were observed in both resource-poor and affluent societies in a 2001 study led by
Michael Kramer and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (ed. 2001, 285-4).

Breastfeeding contributes to the health and wellbeing of mothers; it helps mother-baby

bonding, reduces the risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer, frees up family and national
resources, is a hygienic way of feeding and is safe for the environment.

To enable mothers to establish and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for six months, the World Health
Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend:

- Initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of a baby’s life

- Exclusive breastfeeding — that is the infant receives only breast milk, without any additional food
or drink,

not even water

- Breastfeeding on demand — that is as often as the child wants, day and night

- No use of bottles, teats or pacifiers

CON- ABOUT BREASTFEEDING

Nursing is definitely time-consuming: Newborn babies typically feed every 2 to 3 hours during the
day and may awaken frequently at night.

If someone else wants to feed the baby with a bottle of breast milk the mother still has to pump.

Breastfeeding takes a lot of energy for your body to make milk, so the mother can often feel quite
fatigued.

There can be a certain amount of anxiety and frustration while a mother is learning the process.

Sometimes mothers have physical problems like mastitis, plugged milk ducts and engorgement if the
baby is not feeding frequently or properly.

Working mothers can find it challenging to schedule nursings. It is necessary to pump at work and
some jobs may not allow for such breaks (they should, but some do not comply.)
Breastfeeding in public has been a topic of debate for years. Many laws around the world make
public breastfeeding legal and disallow companies from prohibiting it in the workplace. But, some
people are uncomfortable with seeing a mother breastfeed her baby, and feel that private
businesses and places should have the right to discourage and prohibit breastfeeding as a means
maintaining the comfort of their customers. The main questions involved in this debate include the
following: Should it be legal and should it be specifically protected in all walks of life, both in public
places and private businesses? Is it fundamentally important to babies health? And, what about
mothers' health? Is it important to the bond between mother and child? Is public breastfeeding
decent? Even if some people feel uncomfortable about it, should they be made to tolerate it? Should
the onus be on onlookers to overt their eyes, instead of on breastfeeders to go somewhere else? Is
public breastfeeding a fundamental right for women? Does restricting it limit the mobility of women
and their right to raise their children how they see fit and on a consistent breastfeeding schedule? A
separate but important topic is whether women should breast feed in full-view (with the whole
breast showing) or "discreetly" while in public? (See: Debate: Full-view vs discreet breastfeeding in
public) But, this article starts with the basic question of whether any kind of breast-feeding (discreet
or full-view) should be allowed and legally protected in public places?