LAC wants six months' maternity leave for breastfeeding

WINDHOEKSELMA IKELA

The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has called on the government to extend maternity leave from three to six months, so that mothers can continue to breastfeed their babies.
Alternatively, the organisation wants the government to adopt a law requiring employers to create space for breastfeeding at the workplace.
According to the public outreach manager for the LAC's Gender Research and Advocacy Project, Rachel Coomer, they have received complaints from breastfeeding mothers about employers who do not allow them to go home during their lunch break to nurse their children.
Coomer said the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Social Services recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months after birth, "but this can be extremely difficult if you have to return to work when baby is just eight weeks old".
She said breastfeeding figures in Namibia are low, with only 53,6% of mothers nursing their infants until the age of two months.
This figure drops to 22,9% for babies aged two to three months and to 5,7% for those aged four to five months.
The Labour Act states that a female employee who has completed at least 12 months' continuous service is entitled to at least four weeks' maternity leave before childbirth and a further eight weeks after she gives birth.
Coomer said this short time off can mean that women do not feel ready to return to the workplace and they therefore resign from their jobs. "This means that skilled people are leaving the workforce, which is bad for the employers," she remarked.
She said extended maternity leave should be introduced gradually to ensure that the change has less impact on employers.
For example, maternity leave could be extended by just one or two weeks for every year worked.
She said hopefully the Social Security Commission (SSC) would pay for the extended maternity leave.
"Each year the SSC raises the repayment ceiling, but instead they could extend the time," she said.
While the mother is on leave, employers may choose to hire a temporary employee on a fixed contract basis to fill her position.
Coomer said some employers may argue that the temporary employee would require training and this could adversely affect business.
However, she added that six months' maternity leave would allow more women to return to the workplace, which in turn would result in less training, as an experienced person then returns to the post.
Coomer said they have sent a letter to the government outlining their proposal for extended maternity leave and are awaiting a response.
She added that the national agenda for children promotes exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life. However, it is not clear how the government intends to balance this commitment with the provision of eight weeks' maternity leave after the birth of the baby.