VOA慢速英语2017 乌干达议会为女议员开设母乳哺育中心（在线收听）

Breastfeeding Center Helps Ugandan Lawmakers with Work, Motherhood

The World Health Organization (WHO) says breastfeeding is very important for the health of babies.

世界卫生组织(WHO)表示，母乳哺育对于婴儿的健康非常重要。

WHO officials say mother’s milk should be the only food given to babies during the first six months of life. They advise that breastfeeding should continue in children up to two years of age. But that can be difficult for working mothers around the world.

世卫组织表示，婴儿出生后的前六个月都应该母乳哺育。该组织还建议，母乳哺育可以延续到孩子两岁再停。但这一点对于全世界有工作的母亲来说太过困难。

In Uganda, parliament is supporting the act of breastfeeding by providing a free day care center for female lawmakers and the women who work for them.

乌干达议会正在支持一项母乳哺育法案的通过，为女性议员和为她们服务的女性提供一个免费的托儿所。

Uganda’s parliament has more than 150 women legislators. Many of them are at the age when they can give birth. Because of this, parliament members, including male legislators, have taken steps to help female members deal with their full-time job and motherhood.

乌干达议会有150多名女性议员。她们中的很多人都到了生育的年龄。鉴于此，包括男性议员在内的议会成员已经采取措施，帮助女性议员解决全职工作与母亲身份平衡的问题。

Legislator Taaka Agnes Wejuli sends her four-month-old son to the parliamentary day care center.

议员艾格尼丝将自己4个月大的儿子送往议会设立的托儿所。

“When I am coming very early, I don’t even have to bathe my baby. I just get him out of sleep, put him in his car seat, lock the vehicle and we run up to here…I attend committee meetings. I attend (the) plenary in the afternoon, so I am always there, all the time.”

我上班很早的时候，也不用给我的宝贝洗澡。我只要把他叫醒，然后把他放进他的小车里，锁上，然后小跑着带到这里……参加委员会的会议。下午的时候参加全会，所以我一直都在工作。

The Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, opened the parliamentary center almost two years ago.

乌干达议会发言人丽贝卡大概于两年前开办了议会中心。

The center has a room with cooking equipment, areas for babies to sleep and play, and a room for breastfeeding mothers. This room, Kadaga says, has helped female lawmakers stay active in parliament and solved many problems for them.

这个中心的房间里有护具、婴儿休息娱乐区，还有母婴室。丽贝卡表示，这样的房间让女性议员能够在议会上保持活跃，为他们解决了很多问题。

“In the past, one would either have to leave parliament and go back home, depending on where she lives, that would take time,” said Kadaga. “Either she would have to do part of the work, or abandon the work altogether and come back tomorrow because the traffic alone, if you are traveling back and forth between the city and your home, it takes time.”

过去，女议员要么就迫不得已离开议会回家，而且这也要取决于她住在哪里，可能会很费时间，丽贝卡如是说道。要么就完成部分工作，或者一点工作都不管，明天再回来做，因为光是路上一来一回的时间就很多了。

Two women supervise the center, which is open to both parliamentarians and the women who work for them. Sheeba Namara takes her three-month-old baby to the center. She says it is good to know her child is so near.

由两名女性来监管该中心，该中心对议会成员和为其服务的工作人员都开放。纳马拉也把自己3个月大的孩子带来了中心。她表示，知道自己的孩子离自己这么近的感觉真好。

“Just the comfort of being at work yet at the same time knowing that your child is safe and you can walk in anytime, is really the best service that could ever do.”

The World Health Organization rates countries on policies that support breastfeeding in its Global Breastfeeding Scorecard. It says Uganda is among 23 countries where more than 60 percent of babies are fed only their mother’s milk during the first six months.

工作的同时知道自己的孩子很安全，这感觉美滋滋，让女议员可以随时安心工作。这真的可以说是议会最好的服务了。世卫组织以各国支持母乳哺育的政策来评估其全球母乳哺育计分情况。乌干达是23个国家之一，这23个国家60%多的婴儿在出生后的前六个月都仅以母乳为食。

Ugandan health officials say there are still many things that can be done to help mothers. These include enacting policies aimed at supporting breastfeeding and babies’ health.

乌干达卫生官员表示，还有很多事情能为母亲们做。其中包括，颁布政策，旨在支持母乳哺育和婴儿健康。

Officials also say policies to let women more easily balance work and family responsibilities are also needed.

一些官员表示，还需要一些政策让女性能更容易地平衡工作与家庭责任。

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

bathe – v. to wash (someone) in a container filled with water : to give a bath to (someone)?

plenary – adj. describing a full meeting of all members of a group

abandon – v. to leave suddenly or without notice

afternoon – n. the middle part of the day?

back and forth – adv. between two places or people?

comfort – n. a state or feeling of being less worried, upset, frightened, etc., during a time of trouble or emotional pain