In order for work to be decent, women workers need to be protected during maternity – protected from losing their jobs and protected from any risks to their health or that of their babies. This guide looks at maternity protection in the workplace, focusing on measures that can be taken to ensure a healthy beginning for both the mother and her child.

The starting point is the Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183), which was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2000, in particular, the health protection measures that are foreseen in the Convention and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 191).

The material in this guide sets out basic principles and, in an effort to be relevant to a maximum number of settings, provides a wide range of information on reproductive hazards and how to prevent harm. Annexes provide a choice of practical tools which will be helpful in identifying workplace risks and fi nding solutions.

This is not a medical guide – it is designed for general use, mainly in workplaces in the formal economy. It is meant as a reference tool for employers, workers, trade union leaders, occupation health and safety advisors, labour inspectors, NGOs, women’s organizations and anyone else with an interest in workplace health and maternity protection. We hope it will help them undertake practical action to improve maternity protection and health at work.

Improving maternal health and reducing child mortality are among the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. Reducing the work-related risks for pregnant and breastfeeding workers and their children can contribute to achieving these goals. This publication is thus a small contribution by the ILO to the worldwide effort to reach the millennium goals by 2015.

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