- The Federal Labor Law establishes that lactating mothers have the right to two periods during the day of half an hour each to extract milk.
- This natural liquid not only offers immediate benefits but also provides long-term protection.
- The WHO mentions that all newborns should be exclusively breastfed for at least their first six months of life.
Breast milk is so important for a person’s development that it is considered the first vaccine that everyone should receive. Its impact is not only immediate but also provides long-term protection against serious conditions such as leukemia, lymphoma, rhinitis, otitis and pneumonia. That is why it is so important to encourage this practice among parents.
In this sense, the World Health Organization (WHO) is clear in stating that all newborns should be exclusively fed with this natural liquid during their first six months of life. Sometimes it can be extended for more time but never less than half a year.
However, there are two main reasons why mothers carry out the extraction of breast milk. For any condition of separation of mother and baby due to illness or hospitalization of either of them. And also because the working conditions of the mothers require that during the time they are in their workplaces, their child is fed with breast milk through some feeding device. (bottle, glass, syringe, among others).
Some tips for expressing breast milk
- Properly wash hands with soap and water before handling milk.
- Store the milk in a glass container or if it is plastic, ensure that it is free of bisphenol A (BPA).
- There are bags to store breast milk, they are single use.
- It is advisable to store milk between 2 and 4 ounces per container
- Once the milk has been extracted, label it with the date, time and number of ounces that were obtained with the extraction.
- If the mother is in the working day, the extraction must be carried out in the hours that the baby needs to be fed, this to continue with the stimulation of milk production.
- Transport the milk home in a cooler designed solely for this food.
- See a lactation consultant if necessary.
Breast milk preservation methods
- Room temperature. It can be kept up to 6 hours.
- The fridge. It can be kept for 3-5 days.
- frozen. It can be kept for 6 months.
- Once defrosted, it cannot be refrigerated or frozen again, if it is not used, it will need to be discarded.
current legal regulation
In Mexico, the Federal Labor Law establishes that lactating mothers have the right to two periods during the day of half an hour each to extract milk.
It is also important to consider that ideally workplaces should assign safe and adequate places to guarantee the safety at the time of extraction and refrigeration of the expressed milk. Therefore, it is suggested that each workplace have a lactation room in order to protect and preserve lactation for as long as possible.
Due to the above, companies are paying more and more attention and interest in guaranteeing safe spaces so that collaborators can extract milk during the working day.
Breastfeeding mothers who are about to return to work can start their milk bank 2 to 3 weeks before restarting the workday and can perform manual expression or have a device that supports the effectiveness of this practice.
Also read:
Lactathlon, new IMSS project to promote breastfeeding
70 out of 100 Mexican babies do not receive breast milk during their first months of life
Nuevo León will have its first Breast Milk Bank