Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Ministry: Breastfeeding rooms in all institutions

Ministry: Breastfeeding rooms in all institutions

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Breastfeeding facility in Kampong Thom province in March. HELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL CAMBODIA

Ministry: Breastfeeding rooms in all institutions

The Ministry of Health urged public and private institutions throughout the country to establish facilities for breastfeeding mothers and child nurseries so that they can continue breastfeeding when returning to work.

Ministry secretary of state Prak Sophorn Neary said the ministry had just begun operating its first breastfeeding room and child nursery at the National Maternal and Child Health Centre, due to concerns about the lack of available babysitters upon mothers’ return to work from maternity leave.

“With the establishment of these facilities and nurseries in the workplace, we hope that women will be more comfortable returning to work and will no longer have to worry about their children. Doing so may also reduce staff absences,” she said.

Sophorn Neary added that the ministry is gradually rolling out the breastfeeding rooms. Plans to expand them to other areas may take another five to six months, or a year.

“Our goal is that all institutions and workplaces, whether factories, companies, or large or small enterprises have a breastfeeding room and a nursery to facilitate and enable women with young children to work regularly and happily,” she said.

Sophorn Neary said she did not have data on hand as to how many breastfeeding places and nurseries are available across the country.

The government made a strong commitment at the December 2021 Tokyo World Summit on nutrition for growth to reduce the stunting rate by 19 per cent, and increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding from birth to six months to 85 per cent by 2030.

The ministry has developed a “communication strategy to change attitudes for improving maternal, infant, and toddler nutrition in Cambodia”, which aims to improve the nutritional status, health and wellbeing of Cambodian women and children through the practice of good parenting habits for infants and young children.

Sok Silo, secretary-general of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development, said on April 22 that food security and nutrition – as well as parenting – are trans-sectoral issues that require cooperation, coordination, intervention and investment.

“The cooperation of all stakeholders, including state institutions, development partners, civil society, the private sector and the public to implement sectoral and cross-sectoral policies and strategies is essential to address the complexities of the root causes of nutrition problems in all forms,” he said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Siem Reap airport to close after new one opens

    After the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opens in October, the existing complex serving the northwestern province will be “completely closed”, according to State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha. SAI developer Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd (AIAI) last month

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on