The corrections and social services workforce have a responsibility to protect and uphold the human rights of their clients (Gribble and Gallagher 2014). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides essential guidance for individuals and organisations involved in child protection (United Nations 1989), stating that they should:

  • ensure the feeding routine is carefully noted in the All About Me plan with care information provided to the caregiver, including the roles and responsibilities of all involved once this has been negotiated
  • create policies that reflect the rights of an infant with regard to breastfeeding
  • always consider options for co-locating the breastfeeding parent and infant during child protection investigations
  • if physical separation must happen, do everything to encourage breastfeeding, provide an electric breast pump and appropriate accessories, ensure the safe transport of the breast milk to the infant, provide breastfeeding support to the parent, and educate the caregiver on the importance of supporting breastfeeding.

References

Gribble K, Gallagher M. 2014. Rights of children in relation to breastfeeding in child protection cases. British Journal of Social Work. 44: 434–50.

United Nations. 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York: United Nations