World Breastfeeding Week; Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all

Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all

Every year, 1st to 7th August is breastfeeding week. It is a week where focus shifts on breastfeeding and different thematic areas related to that. 2024’s theme is Closing the gap: Breastfeeding supper for all.

On average, a woman spends about 1800hrs if she breastfeed for a year. A 40hr work week translates to about 1960hrs a year. Add cluster feeding, growth spurts, night feeds, illness feeds, comfort feeds etc; breastfeeding is a full time job. Most moms struggle with breastfeeding due to lack of support. How can we bridge the gap? How can we be supportive to breastfeeding moms as they navigate the challenges that come with it.

Family Encouragement and affirmations
An encouraging word can go a long way. We say that breastfeeding is natural, not like breathing, more like walking. It is hard work. If a mom is struggling keeping up with recovery after childbirth, a baby who is crying a lot, house chores and taking care of her other children, it is not time to be judgmental but to be encouraging. If you are the husband, step
Up and stand in the gap. Take the other children so the mom and new baby can relax. Mother in law visiting, remember each baby and child birth is different and people deal with different experiences in different ways.

Healthcare Education
A lot of moms are sent home with a newborn expected to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months with little to no information on breastfeeding. The expectations vs reality hit hard when they reach home and for the most part have no idea what they are doing. Care providers need to prioritize education on breastfeeding, the challenges thereof and solutions. For working moms, who will at some point leave the children to go back to work, and are keen on pumping, that information should be availed at birth before they are discharged. How do you effectively pump? Breastmilk storage guidelines? How to thaw breastmilk? Tips and hacks of pumping at work?

Information is power. You have heard of moms saying that after leaving a baby overnight, the milk in your breasts goes bad and you shouldn’t breastfeed and many other myths. All these can be demystified through thorough prenatal and postnatal education on breastfeeding. Challenges like latching, tongue ties and lip ties as well need to be discussed and people made aware that sometimes breastfeeding is hard because there is a problem that needs to be resolved.

Workplace support
There are legal provisions i Kenya requiring employees to support breastfeeding moms by providing lactation stations. Kenyan employers must provide lactation stations within their premises for breastfeeding mothers under the Health Cat, 2017 (Act), which took effect in July 2017 (Star,2024). Despite there being a law in Kenya regarding lactation rooms, only 37 companies in 2020 had functional lactation rooms (BD, 2024).There is a bill on the table, The Breastfeeding Mothers Bill, 2024 which seeks to provide a legal framework for mothers who may wish to breastfeed their children at their workplace. The Bill further requires employers to provide breastfeeding employees with lactation rooms to either breastfeed or express their milk for their children (star, 2024).

It is paramount for employers to provide a conducive environment for working moms to continue breastfeeding and pumping at work when they resume after maternity leave. Failure to pump at work, causes a significant reduction on breastmilk supply as breastfeeding is about demand and supply. They only need a few months of flexi hours and a room where they can pump and keep their milk. That’s how to bridge the gap at the work place.

Community support
It is a privilege to be in Kenya where breastfeeding in public is widely acceptable. In some other countries, moms are shamed for breastfeeding publicly which makes no sense but it happens a lot. A supportive community is key in any breastfeeding journey.