Working women slam gov't for lack of nursing rooms

MANILA, Philippines - A group of working women advocating breastfeeding yesterday slammed the government for not providing enough lactation or nursing rooms in government offices as provided for under the 1986 Milk Code.

The Working for Working Mothers (WOW-Mothers) exposed the lack of lactation rooms in government offices that would have enabled working mothers to provide milk for their children even while at work.

WOW-Mothers accused the government of violating the 1986 Milk Code that requires offices, both private and government, to put up dedicated nursing stations for breastfeeding women employees.

“We have a law but it is not being enforced. We have not seen a government office that has a lactation room so it seems the government itself is the number one violator of the law that they created,” WOW-Mothers president Helen Macasaet told a press briefing in Makati City.

re passed in 1992 and 2009, respectively, to provide other benefits for nursing employees, WOW-Mothers pointed out.

In the absence of nursing rooms in government offices, Macasaet said working mothers have no choice but to collect breastmilk inside the toilet which does not have the proper tools and equipment found in a nursing room such as a breast pump, a refrigerator, cleaning supplies, a table, and a comfortable chair.

Macasaet said the ability to pump throughout the day allows mothers to keep up their milk supply and enables them to save and take home breastmilk they have pumped.