Liz Galst is deputy editor of MAMM,
and in 2001 won a Clarion Award from Women in Communications
for her year-long series, "Nicki Marsh Got Cancer at
25: Welcome to Her Life."
News
on Lower Breast Cancer Risks By Liz Galst
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Here, over 40 percent of new mothers
return to work within just three months, with 29.9 percent
returning after two months, and a full 13 percent returning
after only one, according to the most recent census
statistics. In Sweden, where employees usually receive
maternity leave and 80 percent of their wages for a
full year after giving birth, breastfeeding rates are
significantly higher. "So it's not impossible to
have a sophisticated Western lifestyle and do this,"
Beral notes.
Indeed, women's
health advocates such as NWHN's Pearson are pushing
societal change in response to Beral's data: "A
lot more women intend to breastfeed than are able
to start and continue," Pearson says. "We
need changes in hospital care and work and family
life to enable women to act on their intentions."