New guidelines from the Department of Health recommending mothers breastfeed for two years could make working mothers who cannot achieve this feel guilty, the National Women's Council of Ireland has said.
Ms Joanna McMinn, director of the NWCI, said she hoped the result of the new recommendations would not be that working mothers were made to feel inadequate.
The Department yesterday announced a change in policy, saying it would encourage breastfeeding mothers to delay the introduction of any food or drink, other than breast milk, until their babies were at least six months old.
"They are also being encouraged to continue breastfeeding after that in combination with appropriate complementary foods up to the age of two years or beyond," a Department statement said.
Ms McMinn said that if the Government was committed to this there should be an obligation on businesses and employers to make facilities available for women to breastfeed or express their milk.
"If they don't, women at work who can't comply with this recommendation will be effectively excluded from it," she added.
The new published guidelines bring the Republic into line with recommendations which are contained in the 2002 Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding of the World Health Organisation.
They are supported here by, among others, the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Midwifery Forum and the La Leche League of Ireland.
The Maternity Protection Bill, introduced in the Seanad in May and due before the Dáil in the next session, makes provisions entitling breastfeeding working mothers to either an adjustment of working hours or breastfeeding breaks, without loss of pay, for up to four months after the birth of their baby.
However, Ms Maureen Fallon, national breastfeeding co-ordinator at the Department, said: "This is worthless to most working mothers because most don't return to work earlier than four months after their baby's birth."
It also failed to accommodate the basic recommendation in the new guidelines that mothers breastfeed for at least six months.
She said Ireland was out of step with the rest of Europe where most countries have made legal provisions which oblige employers to facilitate breastfeeding mothers with lactation breaks and facilities to express and store milk.
"It is important that we made this announcement, but I would certainly be of the opinion that the Maternity Protection Bill should be beefed up," said Ms Fallon.
"There should not be a time limit on how long women who want to breastfeed are accommodated at work.
"Mothers should be facilitated for as long as they and their babies want to breastfeed."
