Respecting the rights of breastfeeding women in Poland. Survey results.

Abstrakt

In Poland one has a well constructed law supporting and protecting breastfeeding women. It appears, however, that it is not adequately respected, with the exception of break time for nursing mothers at work. The goal of the conducted research was to evaluate whether Polish women are aware of their rights during breastfeeding period and how well respected are they in reality. 

The research was bound up with an educational campaign entitled “Karmię! Mam prawo!” („I breastfeed! I have the right!”) conducted in April and May 2023. It covered 3183 mothers, of whom 97% (3089) were breastfeeding. 1/3 of women know, but also 1/3 of women do not, that they have rights as a breastfeeding mother as well as a patient and a citizen. As many as 47,2% (1502) of surveyed women were refused certain services due to breastfeeding their child. 22,2% (708) of mothers felt discriminated because of breastfeeding, 53% (1702) were recommended an elimination diet, while 46,7% (1488) were suggested to stop breastfeeding without important reasons. Medical care in the hospital was insufficient in 39,4% (1155) of women, 69,5% (2211) of children were additionally fed with breast milk substitutes in hospitals while 25,1% (799) of women were not asked for consent for such intervention. 69,7% (2219) of mothers have seen advertisements for formula, mostly in hospitals and healthcare centers. Although many women’s rights are broken, almost 67,5% (2150) of mothers declare that they would not know what to do or would decline to act in order to assert their rights or claim a compensation for the harms suffered. The educational campaign led by the Center for Lactation Science has as its goal to raise awareness among women about their rights, so that they demand that they be respected, for themselves and their children, as well as for the public health.