An initiative of Philips Avent 
A workplace nursing-room certification program
An initiative of Philips Avent
Watch the Film
A short film on why an hour needs a door, and how Hawlayn helps employers give it one.
In partnership with
The Story
The law is on her side: a full paid hour, every working day, to nurse or express milk, hers by right for two years.
But when the hour comes, there is nowhere to go. No quiet room, no clean surface, no door that locks. So she slips into a bathroom stall, or her parked car, or simply stops. It is the silent choice thousands of Saudi mothers make every day, only because the last step was left undone.
Honoring the Kingdom
In a single decade, Saudi Arabia rewrote what working motherhood looks like. The protections a mother needs are no longer aspirations. They are law.
Twelve weeks of fully paid maternity leave, protected under Article 151 of the Labour Law.
One paid hour every working day to nurse her child, counted as working time, guaranteed for up to two years after birth.
A nursery mandate requiring large employers to provide care for young children.
Female workforce participation more than doubled, rising from 17% to 36% in under a decade.
The Kingdom gave the mother her time. The question that remains is smaller, and entirely ours to answer.
The Gap
of Saudi workplaces have no dedicated room where a mother can use the hour the law already gives her.
A right with no room to use it is a right on paper. What is missing is four walls and a door: private, clean, and calm enough to care for her child and return to her desk with dignity. This is not a gap in the law. It is a gap in the room, and a company can close it.
Figure from a primary healthcare study conducted in Al-Ahsa, not a national survey.
Our Turn
The government wrote the time into law. The private sector's part is simpler, and just as meaningful: to make the room.
Hawlayn is a national certification program that helps employers build a proper nursing room, recognises those who do, and equips it once built. One promise, kept across two years: every working mother in the Kingdom has a door to close and a place that is hers.
Two Years. One Promise.
The Program
Hawlayn (Arabic for "two years") is a workplace nursing-room certification program from Philips Avent. It gives Saudi employers a clear standard, a simple path to recognition, and the equipment to complete the room.
Employers who meet the standard earn the Hawlayn certification mark: a visible signal to their people and their market that this is a workplace built around the mother and child.
Employers earn
The Standard
A Hawlayn-certified room is not a repurposed corner. It meets ten requirements, each one written from the mother's point of view.
A private room with a door that locks, used for nursing only during nursing hours.
A comfortable seat with back support, and a clean flat surface for a pump.
A power outlet within reach of the seat.
A sink with clean running water nearby, or inside the room where possible.
A small refrigerator, or dedicated fridge space, for storing expressed milk.
Clean, secure storage for personal pump parts and belongings.
Hygienic surfaces that are easy to wipe down between uses.
Gentle, non-clinical lighting and adequate ventilation.
A clear booking or access method so the room is available when needed.
Visible signage and a written workplace policy protecting the daily nursing hour.
Our Commitment
A certified room earns more than recognition. When an employer builds a nursing room to the Hawlayn standard, Philips Avent equips it with a Room Starter Kit: the same products a mother would choose for her own child, placed in the room she will use, ready from the first day.
The Room Starter Kit includes
Single wearable breast pump
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Steam steriliser
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Breast milk storage bags
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Breast pads
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Breast milk storage cups
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You make the room. We make it a Philips Avent room.
How to Apply
A short form registers your company and the site you want to certify.
Use the Hawlayn checklist to measure your space against the ten-point standard.
Create the room, or bring an existing space up to standard. We share guidance and a layout reference.
Submit photos and a brief confirmation. A Hawlayn review confirms the room meets the standard.
Your site receives the Hawlayn certification mark, and Philips Avent delivers the Room Starter Kit.
Already certified
Why Certify
A nursing room is a small investment with a long return. For the company, and for the mother who never has to make the silent choice again.
The months after maternity leave are when employers lose women they spent years developing. A room is a reason to stay.
Certification is a public, credible signal that your workplace supports working mothers.
As nursing-room expectations rise across the Kingdom, certified employers are already there.
The most lasting return is the simplest: a mother cared for, and a workplace that shows it.
Two Years. One Promise.
To certify your workplace, contact the Hawlayn program team.
Hawlayn Program, by Philips Avent
hawlayn.ksa@example.com +966 11 234 5678
Placeholder contact details. Replace with final program contacts before distribution.
An initiative of Philips Avent
