BFW aims to remove the workplace as a barrier to breastfeeding by creating work environments with the space, time and supportive culture necessary to support breastfeeding employees.
Removes workplace barriers to breastfeeding with BFW
By creating work environments with the space, time and supportive culture necessary to support breastfeeding employees.
What is a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace?
Breastfeeding Friendly Workplaces stand out from the crowd by prioritising three key features in their supportive workplaces:
1. Time
The organisation has a Breastfeeding Policy that clearly outlines the support for lactation breaks to allow a mother time to feed/express during working hours.
2. Space
The organisation provides a private space for employees to feed their baby or express milk.
3. Supportive culture
The organisation has a communications strategy in place for internal and external stakeholders. The steps to create a truly inclusive and culturally supportive environment will be different for each organisation, but it generally requires a blend of cultural change, communications and targeted workplace initiatives.
An increasing number of women return to work within the first year of their baby’s life.
Without support, a significant number of women experience anxiety, choose to delay their return to work, reduce their work hours or leave their jobs altogether. These are not good outcomes for organisations or their employees.
While many employers would like to provide breastfeeding support they are often unsure how to do so.
The BFW program was developed in 2002 to assist employers with this process and draws on the experience gained working with many organisations since then
Becoming BFW accredited
By gaining BFW accreditation you position your organisation as a leader in providing family- friendly practices to your employees. BFW accreditation puts in place the framework to ensure breastfeeding employees can meet both their work and family commitments.
