Breastfeeding: It's Your Right!

How can breastfeeding be a human right?

• Women and children are subjects of human rights, not objects of charity. 
• Breastfeeding is part of fundamental human rights: the right to food and to health. 
• Breastmilk is the best food for infants. It continues the nourishment and protection the baby received through the umbilical cord. It provides a nutritionally balanced food for infants and acts in the same way as immunisation, reducing the chance that they get certain diseases 
• The act of breastfeeding is an essential component of good child care, contributing to psychosocial development and healthy growth. 
• Breastfeeding contributes to every woman's right to health by reducing her risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer, iron deficiency anemia, and hip fracture.

• Every woman has the right to breastfeed her child. Most governments have committed themselves to assuring the realization of the rights contained in one or more of these international instruments:
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and  Cultural Rights (CESCR), 
• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and
• International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on Maternity Protection.

It is important to be aware of your rights under both national and international law.

Why is it important to stress that breastfeeding is a right?

Breastfeeding is a right for every mother, and it is essential to fulfill every child's right to adequate food and the highest attainable standard of health. Breastfeeding as a human right implies that:

• Children must have access to adequate food and nutrition to ensure healthy development from birth. This means exclusively breastmilk¹ in the first six months and, breastmilk together with complementary foods, for two years and beyond.
• No woman who wishes to breastfeed should be prevented from doing so.
• Governments and all sectors of society have the duty to ensure that there are no obstacles for women who wish to breastfeed.
• Women shall not be discriminated against because they are breastfeeding.
• Women should demand adequate information and support to be able to breastfeed.
• Women have the right to have access to good prenatal care and mother/baby-friendly health facilities.
• Women should demand not to be exposed to undue pressure from breastmilk substitute producers through advertising or any other form of promotion.

Yes! While the breastfeeding decision is clearly up to the mother, there are a number of things that governments should do to protect, promote and support the right to breastfeeding: 

Governments should:

• Recognise law that women and children have rights to food and health.
• Provide for adequate maternity leave (at least 4, but preferably 6 months) after giving birth to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding.
• Provide for flexible work hours (by law) for mothers returning to work, including breastfeeding breaks.
• Call on employers to provide facilities at the workplace to enable working mothers to continue to breastfeed or express and store milk under appropriate conditions.
• Support better provisions in the revision of the ILO Convention No. 103 on Maternity Protection.
• Support implementation and awareness of existing rights.
• Protect woman's right to breastfeed in public places.
• Provide accurate information on the advantages of breastfeeding to health workers and pregnant women to enable the latter to make informed decisions.
• Provide training for health workers, including doctors, midwives and nurses in the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding, including sound breastfeeding management.
• Ensure that all facilities providing maternity services practise the "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" promulgated by WHO and UNICEF as part of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
• Prevent any form of promotion of breastmilk substitutes, bottles or teats to health care workers and the public, but especially to women prior to or just after birth.

Breastfeeding provides unique protection against  many diseases, including: Diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract including diarrhoea Respiratory tract infections, including pneumonia Ear infections (otitis media) Urinary tract infections