Belize Embraces Inclusivity with New Lactation Centers 

Belize is making strides towards workplace inclusivity for women. Public breastfeeding has long been stigmatized, leaving mothers without practical spaces. But today marks a change. Transparent BPO has opened lactation centers at their Belmopan and Belize City locations, providing safe, clean, and supportive spaces for breastfeeding mothers. News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the new facilities to get the full scoop.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Breastmilk is often hailed as a superfood for babies, packed with essential nutrients and antibodies crucial for the first six months of life. UNICEF recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months and continuing with complementary foods for up to two years or more. However, maintaining this can be challenging for mothers returning to work shortly after giving birth. To address this, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and Transparent BPO have teamed up to create dedicated lactation centers for nursing mothers in the workforce. Angie Westby, HR Business Partner at Transparent BPO, shares how the idea for these supportive spaces came to life.

 

Angie  Westby,  HR Business Partner, Transparent, BPO.

“Within our company we have what we call a suggestion box where our employees can go in and suggest and give us suggestions and we review and what we can make possible. We had a mother who had just returned from maternity leave and didn’t have a. Safe space for her to breastfeed. So she would go upstairs to our section and go into the restrooms and breastfeed. And I think that was a wake up call for us, that we need a space for our mothers so that they could feel safe and comfortable to breastfeed here at work”

 

Belize is making strides in promoting exclusive breastfeeding among infants, thanks to the Baby Friendly Workplace Initiative. This program, which includes the creation of dedicated breastfeeding rooms, aims to support working mothers in providing the best nutrition for their babies. Recent data shows that thirty-three percent of infants in Belize are now exclusively breastfed, a significant jump from the fourteen-point-seven percent observed in previous studies. The Ministry of Health and Wellness is committed to increasing these numbers even further, ensuring that more babies receive the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding. This initiative is a crucial step in improving infant health and supporting working mothers, making Belize a leader in promoting breastfeeding-friendly workplaces.

 

Robyn Daly, Technical Advisor for Nutrition, Ministry of Health and Wellness

“Some of our strategies would be looking at the marketing that is done to women because that affects breastfeeding. So when a woman is pregnant, sometimes they get exposed to, I would say to beliefs, that maybe formalize better than breast milk. It’s easier, it’s better, but it’s also not true. Breast milk is the best form of nutrition for that child. We also have efforts that we work along with private sector, which is what we see here today. Having supportive measures as having workplace support for women, because that helps us with our campaign and also with our promotion to improve breastfeeding in Belize, when we have good partnership, intersectorial collaboration, it helps us to achieve our goal of increasing breastfeeding.”

 

Transparent BPO and UNICEF have unveiled a specially designed room to support nursing mothers. This serene space features soft lighting, soothing music, and a comfortable chair, all aimed at creating a relaxing environment for mothers to bond with their infants.

 

Angie  Westby

“We also have a cabinet full of amenities such as wipes Lysol spray to disinfect the area. We offer snacks and a little fridge so that they could store their breasts milk in between their shifts so that it doesn’t go spoiled. So we thought about every possible thing that we could implement. Internal wise, we have an internal system where they could go in and have different time slots available. So they could see when the room is available to breastfeed, they could book their room that way we don’t have any overlapping of mothers. And one good feature about the room is, we have a scan feature where only our mothers have access to it. They’re added to a distro. They go in, they scan with their IDs, and then only them will have access to the lactation room.”

 

The Government of Belize supports the creation of more spaces like this across the country. Thea Garcia-Ramirez, Belize’s Minister of Human Development, emphasizes the need for a collaborative approach to ensure the success of a new initiative. She highlights that a multi-sectoral and inter-ministry strategy is essential for the program to truly thrive. By bringing together various sectors and ministries, the initiative aims to create a comprehensive support system that addresses the diverse needs of the community.

 

Thea Garcia-Ramirez, Minister of Human Development

“We fully support it. We are going to encourage that other workplaces have similar spaces, safe spaces that make breastfeeding dignified. We want to make these spaces safe spaces, clean spaces, appropriate spaces where mothers can welcome their children, maybe perhaps during their lunch break, have the child come over breastfeed and then go where they can express milk, pump milk and have it stored, and then take it home and leave it there for the following days use or something like that. I think that this reduces the barriers, takes away at least one of the biggest barriers to women staying within the workforce.”

 

A newly created space for nursing mothers is setting a new standard in workplace support, reflecting a significant shift in societal expectations. Recognizing the vulnerability of women’s bodies after childbirth, this initiative aims to provide essential support and upliftment for both mothers and their babies.

 

Robyn Daly

“Stress can affect milk production and milk flow. So it’s very important for women to be stress free, I would say, and to be relaxed and also to have good mental health because that can affect flow and it can and can also put the woman at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder, which sometimes happen when women give birth. So the woman is, she really does need to be relaxed and anything that can help to promote relaxation and reduce stress is encouraged.”

 

UNICEF maintains that encouraging healthy relationships between infants and mothers leads to stronger family bonds and empowered societies. Britney Gordon for News Five.