By Ijeoma Ukazu
Daily, tens of thousands of nursing mothers are faced with breastfeeding challenges for their newborns in Nigeria. Breastfeeding mothers sometimes are “forced” to choose between their work and taking care of their babies.
Experts said that exclusive breastfeeding nourishes and provides all children with the best start in life, breastmilk acts as a baby’s first vaccine, providing critical protection from diseases and even death, as diarrhoea and pneumonia are more common and more severe in children who are artificially fed, resulting in many deaths.
Nutritionists note that breastfeeding comes with some benefits to both mothers, children and society. These include; that children who are breastfed would have reduced risk of acute and chronic illness and improved cognitive outcomes, resulting in higher educational achievement and earning potential compared with non-breastfed children.
They said that with adequate scaling up of exclusive breastfeeding to recommended levels, the lives of more than 823,000 children younger than five years old could be saved, with the majority, 87 per cent under six months of age.
For the nursing mother, there would be an increased physical and emotional bonding between mother and child, stating that “breastfeeding gives protection against breast cancer, improves birth spacing, and might also protect against ovarian cancer and Type 2 diabetes, and with adequate scaling up of breastfeeding to recommended levels, 20,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented.
“Exclusive breastfeeding substantially improves the health of a mother and her child. It reduces the frequency or severity of common childhood illnesses, reduces health-care costs, prevents non-communicable diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as improves birth spacing. While for the country, it increases the Gross Domestic Product, decreased under-five children and maternal mortality and has an estimated return on investment of between $1 and $35.”
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, breastfeeding also benefits the employer as it improves the corporate image of businesses, reduces maternity-related absenteeism, which can translate into 30–70 per cent fewer absences, high productivity, increases the retention of female workers and saves the company money by eliminating the need to hire and train new staff.
But despite these benefits, 71 per cent of infants from zero to six months are not exclusively breastfed in Nigeria according to the National Demographic Health Survey 2018. Health watchers said this could be linked to stereotypes and discrimination faced by nursing mothers in the workforce.
According to a 2019 World Bank report, Nigerian women make up 45.5 per cent of the Nigerian labour force and women of childbearing age constitute a high proportion, making significant contributions to the Nigerian economy.
This figure of women’s participation in the workforce cuts across both formal and informal labour markets showing a positive trajectory. A 2014 Olowa and Adeoti survey point out that this rise is also in both rural and urban areas.
Analysts said it means more and more nursing mothers are working outside of their homes (by obligation or by choice), combining work with their divine role of breastfeeding. A 2013 International Labour Organization, ILO report states that combining work and breastfeeding is not only possible but also essential for both mother and child, as well as for business and society.
A recommendation by the World Health Assembly, WHA, allows mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children for six months, and continue thereafter to breastfeed at least until two years of age, while at the same time introducing timely and adequate complementary foods.
However, nursing mothers in Nigeria continue to count their costs in fulfilling this obligation meted to them by nature.
Stakeholders in different forums have advocated for the end of stereotypes of nursing mothers as well as providing a conducive environment that would encourage breastfeeding practices.
Speaking during a breakfast meeting with key decision makers to mark the World Exclusive Breastfeeding Week 2022, Dr Mohammed Liman in his presentation on “Breaking Social and Cultural Stereotypes that Discourage Mothers to Breastfeed with Pride”, states that in Nigeria nursing mothers are constantly faced with stereotypes when it concerns breastfeeding.
Liman states that “Such stereotypes include that: Women will not be able to work productively and effectively during their pregnancies; Accommodating the needs of the breastfeeding women will be onerous; It will be excessively burdensome to deal with the employee’s maternity leave; Nursing mothers will generally not return to work after their maternity leaves and if they do return, they will no longer be desirable employees.
“Women are judged or criticized for continuing to breastfeed after their return to work, Co-employers perceive nursing mothers negatively due to gender stereotypes, and women are often required to manage their contrasting “female” and “work” identities to emphasize their role as skill employees, Women who are pregnant or breastfeed limit their career opportunities.”
Dr Liman who works with the Federal Ministry of Health said that these stereotypes and their attendant consequences result in; discrimination against the nursing mother, fundamental freedom and violation of women’s right to breastfeed and in many instances, nursing mothers especially those working in the private sector are ostracized, excluded, and shamed, stressing that these limit women’s capacity to develop their abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans.
The medical expert said in some extreme cases, women’s jobs are threatened, adding that some employers have had to limit or withhold the promotion opportunities or training of nursing mothers regardless of work performance or years of service and some women’s job is terminated with or without notice.
He said despite breastfeeding policies, legal frameworks and conventions which allow nursing mothers the freedom to breastfeed their children at any time and anywhere they choose while still achieving their full potential, the stereotypes and discrimination in Nigeria continue.
Liman said, “The following policies and Acts are meant to end discrimination against breastfeeding and encourage the practice. They are the Nigeria Labour Act 2004, National-Policy-on-Infant-and-Young-Child-Feeding-in Nigeria, IYCF 2010, National Gender Policy 2006, Nigeria Child Rights Act 2003, Maternity Protection Convention 2000, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, 1976, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC, 1989.”
However, he adds that there are gaps, especially in the IYCF policy and Labour Act which include: a lack of the compliance mechanism to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of both the National IYCF policy and Nigeria Labour Act. The IYCF policy fails to state the penalty accrued to defaulters of the directive according to Nwaodu 2021. The penalty for defaulters of section 46(1) of the Labour Act that exempts women in a certain type of work and discourages the ill-treatment of workers is minimal to compel compliance -NGN 500 or less than a year imprisonment or both.
Furthermore, he pointed out that while the law is aimed at protecting the working mother’s maternity right, subsection 54(2)(b) of the Labour Act (2004) under no circumstance guarantees job security to the working mother on maternity leave if she exceeds he leaves.
Dr Liman calls on all stakeholders to join hands to stop the discrimination in the workplace against nursing mothers, break the stereotypes that hinder mothers from breastfeeding, promote breastfeeding practices and protect, and support nursing mothers to breastfeed with pride anytime, anywhere as well as create breastfeeding-friendly workspaces and public places.