Day care at work benefits mother and child

David Kennedy, Contributor, Jakarta, d_kenn@yahoo.com

Balancing personal life and work commitments is a theme often found in professional development courses, and a common mantra in large companies concerned about staff motivation.

But how many employers actually do more than talk the talk when it comes to the ever elusive work-life balance?

For working mothers with newborn babies, the challenges are particularly acute as they juggle their child's needs with the demands of the office. Indonesian legislation allows for three months maternity leave -- a month and a half before delivery and a commensurate period after -- but most women take the whole period after giving birth, to allow more time to breastfeed.

Many women return to work and find no facilities for feeding or even transferring their milk to bottles. Women spending long hours at the office can find that being separated so early on from their child increases their stress levels.

However, in recent years some firms have become aware of the effect this can have on staff productivity and they now provide facilities, ranging from an area for feeding babies to day care centers.

This trend is not restricted to the private sector, though it is more common in large multinational firms which offer a range of benefits to staff, such as free fitness centers and on-site medical care.

"Some years ago we started to put emphasis on the belief that having motivated people in the company was not only about engaging their minds with training and so on. We realized we also have to capture their hearts," said Josef Bataona, human resource director of PT Unilever Indonesia, which opened a nursery for mothers and infants two years ago.

"When we recruit staff we know that we are not only hiring the person's skill but the whole person. In the case of our female staff, we know that eventually they will have families."

Mina, a manager with two young children, explained that she usually worked from seven in the morning until eight in the evening in order to avoid traffic jams.

"Before we had this service, I had to express my milk into bottles in the prayer room, which was not ideal," she said, adding that she usually left her five-month-old son at home with a babysitter and used the nursery to pump her breast milk during the day.

According to Josef Bataona, Unilever wants their employees to see the workplace as a "second home" and their head office boasts a fitness center, relaxation areas and a full-time doctor and nurse. The nursery is open 24 hours a day to accommodate mothers working long hours.

Facilities for breastfeeding are seen as a priority by the government. Deputy for Child Protection and Welfare from the Office of the State Minister of Women's Empowerment, Dr. H. Tb. Rachmat Sentika, said the government believes the facilities play an important role in increasing the well-being of mothers and children.

"It's principally an issue of nutrition. We need to encourage mothers to breastfeed for at least six months," he said, adding that a government campaign aimed at companies, women's groups and NGOs is currently underway.

A pediatrician by training, Dr. Rachmat said that while the main priority is to provide facilities for breastfeeding, the government was also campaigning for more day care facilities for children under five. However, when questioned, he did not say whether any government funding would be made available.

Although most working mothers employ a nanny or have family members to take care of their babies, some experts suggest that day care centers can be a better option, both financially and in terms of the welfare of children.

The advantages of professionally staffed centers can include full health-care facilities with regular health checks and immunizations, nutritional programs, activities which stimulate creativity and teach life skills as well as the early detection of children's health or learning difficulties, said Zahrasari Lukita Dewi, Psi, a lecturer in clinical psychology at Atma Jaya University in Jakarta.

"Traditionally, families employ baby sitters or family members to mind their children. They give them all the necessary numbers and addresses for the doctor, pediatrician and pharmacy in case anything happens, but all these services can add up to be more expensive than a day care center," she said.

"The deciding factor for parents should be what's best for the child. If they are very busy they may not be able to detect abnormalities early on. For example, by a certain age a child should begin to crawl or speak and so on. Having an experienced person reporting on the child's progress can really make day care worthwhile."

The Ministry of Forestry women's association has run a day care center for over 10 years for the children of ministry staff and office workers in the surrounding area near the Manggala Wana Bhakti complex in Central Jakarta. Although the center caters mostly for under fives, older children also come there after school and are supervised doing homework until their parents finish work.

Ibu Siswanto, head of the women's association, believes that the facility has helped to improve the quality of life of female workers.

"Our main aim is to increase the welfare of staff so that women can continue to be able to work and still have their children properly cared for," she said. The center is funded by donations, fundraising events and by fees. Staff of the Ministry of Forestry pay Rp 10,000 per day and non-ministry staff pay Rp 22,000 per day and can leave their children from eight in the morning until four or later in the afternoon.

"It's a good service. I have two children there, a three year old and a three month old. They are happy there," said Lina, a clerical assistant at the ministry.

"Every Wednesday they are checked by the doctor, they have vitamins and activities to stimulate their creativity. Also, in my opinion, it's not too expensive."

Children at the ministry's day care center have a regular schedule of educational games and social activities and are taught basic hygiene, toilet training and how to clear up after their lunch. A wall chart at the center gives details of the children's health-care program, including doses of vitamins, vaccinations and health checks administered by a resident doctor and child psychologist.

"We monitor the health and the development of each child. That way we can detect any problems at an early stage. Recently, we had a case where a one year old still had not started to walk. We recommended to his parents to get an x-ray and they discovered he had a problem with his shoulder," said Dr. Lestari, the resident general practitioner.

Dr. Lestari believes that children who have been in day care may be better prepared physically and socially for starting school by the age of six but there are also some drawbacks.

"Some children love it so much here that they can be a problem for their parents at weekends and on holidays. They have their routine here and they like eating with their friends. Sometimes they don't want to eat outside of this environment," she said.

While there are clearly many benefits to children gaining a certain amount of independence from their parents early on in life, day care can also cause problems.

Psychologists have found that children develop "split attachments" -- they become unsure who they should be closest to and which place is home. However, this is easily remedied by parents, according to psychologist Zahrasari Lukita Dewi.

"When parents have much time to spend with their children the important thing is the quality of the time together. Parents need a strategy to make the most of evenings and weekends and to make up for lack of time," she said.

"Children need to be aware that they get things from their parents that they cannot get from other people, like hugging, kissing and lots of eye contact. The psychological effect of this cannot be substituted."

Parents are not the only ones who face problems striking a balance in their lives. As children's daily schedules tend to revolve around those of their parents, they can get tired going to and from child minders or day care centers and being stuck in endless traffic jams.

More facilities for children in the workplace may help to make things easier and allow parents to spend more quality time with their kids. But if this means parents working ever longer hours is may be well a self defeating solution.

"At the end of the day parents also need to adjust their schedules in line with the needs of their kids," said Zahrasari Lukita Dewi.