VOA慢速英语2019 柬埔寨母乳喂养的在职母亲人数减少（在线收听）

Fewer Working Mothers in Cambodia Breastfeed

The story of Sim Ark helps explain a problem in Cambodia that has health experts concerned: fewer Cambodian women are breastfeeding their babies.

Sim Ark的故事有助于解释柬埔寨的一个问题，该问题引起了卫生专家的关注：柬埔寨的妇女正在为婴儿哺乳。

Before giving birth to her second child, Sim Ark said she did not think much about what a workplace needed to support a new mother.

在生第二个孩子之前，西姆·阿克（Sim Ark）说，她对工作场所需要什么来养活新母亲没有多想。

After her first child was born, she stayed at home. But now the 29-year-old works at the You Li International factory in Bavet city, in Cambodia.

第一个孩子出生后，她待在家里。但是现在，这位29岁的年轻人正在柬埔寨Bavet市的You Li International工厂工作。

"I want to have a daycare facility right in my workplace so that I can visit my baby while working," Sim Ark told VOA.

Sim Ark告诉美国之音：“我希望在工作场所拥有日托设施，以便我在工作时可以照看婴儿。”

She had been working at You Li before giving birth to her son Ham Ya Oudom. After her son was born, her supervisors began calling her. Within three months she returned to work because she did not want to risk losing her job.

在生下儿子Ham Ya Oudom之前，她曾在You Li工作。她儿子出生后，她的上司开始给她打电话。在三个月内，她重返工作岗位，因为她不想冒险失去工作。

Since she was not at home during the day, Sim Ark was unable to breastfeed her newborn son. Instead the child received a breastmilk substitute, known as formula, from a bottle. At night, he changed back to breast milk unless Sim Ark worked overtime, which she said causes her milk to stop flowing.

由于白天她不在家，因此Sim Ark无法母乳喂养她刚出生的儿子。取而代之的是，孩子从瓶子里得到了母乳代用品，称为配方奶。晚上，除非Sim Ark加班，否则他会换回母乳，她说这会使她的母乳停止流动。

On average, a 10-week-old baby consumes seven containers of infant formula within a month. Each container costs about $12. Most workers in the clothing industry earn about $182 each month. Sim Ark and other workers would like to be able to breastfeed their children until they are at least 6 months old, as doctors recommend. But they do not know how to raise the issue with their employers.

平均而言，一个10周大的婴儿一个月内要食用7个容器的婴儿配方奶粉。每个集装箱的成本约为12美元。服装行业的大多数工人每月收入约182美元。 Sim Ark和其他工作人员希望能够按照医生的建议，给孩子哺育至少6个月大的孩子。但是他们不知道如何向雇主提出这个问题。

"I'm not sure how it (would) look like if we had [a daycare facility in a factory]. Maybe a family member could come and help [in the facility] to look after the baby," Sim Ark said, only to add, "Then nobody would be available to do the work at home."

Sim Ark说：“如果我们在工厂拥有日托设施，我不确定会如何。也许家庭成员可以来帮助该设施照顾婴儿。”补充说：“然后没人会在家做这项工作。”

Her return to work helps explain why the rate of breastfeeding is decreasing in Cambodia, a change that worries child development experts.

她重返工作岗位有助于解释为什么柬埔寨的母乳喂养率正在下降，这一变化令儿童发展专家感到担忧。

United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF, said government data shows that 74 percent of Cambodia's children younger than 6 months old were breastfed in 2010. By 2014, the most recent year for which information is available, that number had fallen sharply. The country went from having one of the highest rates of breastfeeding to a midlevel rate of 65 percent.

联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）表示，政府数据显示，2010年柬埔寨6个月以下的儿童中有74％是母乳喂养的。截至2014年，这是可获得的最新信息，这一数字急剧下降。该国从拥有最高母乳喂养率之一到中等水平（65％）。

Cristian Munduate is a UNICEF representative in Cambodia. She called this change a major decrease. She also described breastfeeding as "the best practice for a child during its first 6 months of life — the first natural vaccine that a child receives."

克里斯蒂安·蒙杜阿（Cristian Munduate）是联合国儿童基金会驻柬埔寨代表。她称此变化为重大减少。她还称母乳喂养是“孩子出生后头6个月的最佳实践-孩子接受的第一种天然疫苗”。

UNICEF suggests that correct breastfeeding practices could prevent an estimated 823,000 child deaths every year worldwide. The medical publication The Lancet reports that breastfeeding improves mental development, success in school and future earning potential.

联合国儿童基金会建议，正确的母乳喂养做法可以在全世界范围内每年预防估计823,000名儿童死亡。医学刊物《柳叶刀》报道，母乳喂养可改善智力发育，在学校取得成功以及未来的收入潜力。

Alive & Thrive is an international effort to support mother and infant health. It released a report on the costs of not breastfeeding in Cambodia. It said three major illnesses in children and mothers could sharply rise because of the fall in breastfeeding. Diarrhea and pneumonia in children and type II diabetes in mothers are believed to be kept under control by the practice.

活力与繁荣是支持母亲和婴儿健康的一项国际努力。它发布了一份关于在柬埔寨不进行母乳喂养的费用的报告。报告说，由于母乳喂养的减少，儿童和母亲的三种主要疾病可能急剧上升。据信，儿童腹泻和肺炎以及母亲的II型糖尿病可通过这种方法得到控制。

The Alive & Thrive report also suggests Cambodia could lose $83 million a year because of future mental development losses linked with a lack of breastfeeding.

《生存与繁荣》报告还指出，由于未来的精神发育损失和缺乏母乳喂养，柬埔寨每年可能损失8300万美元。

Several reasons for fall in breastfeeding

母乳喂养下降的几个原因

UNICEF warns that a lack of community and government support for breastfeeding is leading to the decrease. The UN agency also blames the difficulty of balancing infant care with a job, and the aggressive marketing of infant formula.

联合国儿童基金会警告说，社区和政府缺乏对母乳喂养的支持正在导致这种情况的减少。联合国机构还归咎于难以兼顾婴儿护理和工作以及婴儿配方奶的积极销售。

Cristian Munduate says there are about 2.4 million women ages 15 to 34 in the country's labor force. Cambodia has a law guaranteeing many women the chance to breastfeed.

克里斯蒂安·蒙杜阿（Cristian Munduate）说，该国劳动力中大约有240万名15至34岁的女性。柬埔寨有一项法律保证许多妇女有机会母乳喂养。

But the law and reality are two different things, said Lim Buyheak. The 35-year-old is studying clinical psychology at Vietnam National University.

林·布希克说，但是法律和现实是两回事。现年35岁的他正在越南国立大学学习临床心理学。

She has breastfed her daughter since she was born five months ago. She bought an electronic breast milk collection device for $145 and tried to use it to gather and store her breast milk. It turned out to be so difficult, she gave up. She now works on her studies from home to be able to breastfeed her daughter.

自五个月前出生以来，她就一直在给女儿做母乳喂养。她以145美元的价格购买了一个电子母乳收集设备，并试图用它来收集和储存她的母乳。事实证明是如此的困难，她放弃了。她现在在家工作，可以母乳喂养女儿。

Lim Buyheak formed a group with other mothers on the social media service Facebook in November. It now has about 160 members who discuss breastfeeding and support each other.

Lim Buyheak于11月在社交媒体服务Facebook上与其他母亲组成了一个小组。现在，它已有约160名成员讨论母乳喂养并互相支持。

"At first, I felt a little bit shy," she said. "Now I feel very good to have support from my friends."

她说：“起初，我有点害羞。” “现在，得到朋友们的支持，我感到非常高兴。”

The formula industry is international and growing. In 2014, reports suggest formula sales reached about $44.8 billion worldwide. The World Health Organization expects that sales will have increased to $70.6 billion by the end of the year.

配方奶行业是国际性且正在发展。 2014年，有报告显示，全球配方奶粉销售额达到448亿美元。世界卫生组织预计，到今年年底，销售额将增加到706亿美元。

Activist groups say these sales are supported by marketing campaigns that are banned in some countries.

维权团体说，这些销售受到某些国家禁止的营销活动的支持。

In July, Helen Keller International and World Vision International published a report on information found on containers of formula in Cambodia. The two non-governmental organizations said that 92 percent of formula containers had information on them that supported formula use or did not support breastfeeding. This, the groups said, violates the Cambodian government's policy to support infant breastfeeding.

7月，国际海伦·凯勒（Helen Keller）和世界宣明会（World Vision International）发表了一份关于柬埔寨配方奶粉容器信息的报告。 这两个非政府组织说，有92％的配方奶粉容器上有支持配方奶粉使用或不支持母乳喂养的信息。 这些团体说，这违反了柬埔寨政府支持婴儿母乳喂养的政策。

"These products are often marketed with misleading claims," said Mary Champeny, a nutrition researcher from Helen Keller International.

海伦·凯勒国际公司（Helen Keller International）的营养研究员玛丽·尚佩尼（Mary Champeny）说：“这些产品通常在市场上具有误导性的声称。

In 1981, the World Health Assembly agreed to an International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes. That agreement called on nations "to protect and promote breastfeeding." It also called for the supervision of marketing formula to mothers.

1981年，世界卫生大会通过了《国际销售母乳代用品守则》。 该协议呼吁各国“保护和促进母乳喂养”。 它还呼吁对母亲的营销方式进行监督。

Words in This Story

facility - n. something such as a building or large piece of equipment that is built for a specific purpose

consume(s) – v. to eat or drink something

infant – n. a very young child

practice – n. the action of doing or using something

potential – n. an ability that someone has that can be developed to help that person become successful

shy – adj. feeling nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people

promote – v. to help something happen, develop, or increase