For a majority of working women, breastfeeding and the pumping of milk is close to impossible at the workplace.
Amid the clatter of keyboards, the buzz of smartphones and the flurry of meetings, and the long hours in traffic jams, how did the women who have managed to breastfeed exclusively for six months do it?
With a breast pump tucked away in an office drawer, they’ve turned coffee breaks into connections with their little ones miles away.
Meet Margaret Wanjiku, a mother of two boys, seven and three-year-olds. The CEO of African Tokikou Safaris recalls that though she was employed then, she had flexible working hours that enabled her to exclusively breastfeed her firstborn for six months.
“My boss allowed me to report to work from 10am and leave by 4pm. Since I worked close to my house, at times I would leave work at 1pm to go breastfeed,” she explains.
Before leaving for work, Ms Wanjiku says she would express as much as she could and store it in the feeding bottles.
For the 33-year-old, she never had to express milk in the office and for the hours she was there, she focused on her job and did not munch as much.
Although Ms Wanjiku’s partner was working in Nairobi while she lived in Meru, she acknowledges the support he would accord her during the weekend and when he was on leave.
“I remember there was a time we did not have a nanny and he would bring the baby during lunch hours for me to breastfeed at work,” she recollects with a smile.
Being a career woman and a nurturing mother is not only possible but a beautiful reality as was the case of Mercy Muchoki.
The 28-year-old secondary school teacher and a mother of one recounts that even though she resumed work, she fed well so that her breast milk supply would be sufficient.
“I used to pump every morning and get up to 240ml of milk. My employer then would allow me to go home during lunch hours to breastfeed. When the workflow was a lot, I would express and my domestic manager would come pick the milk,” she says.
Ms Muchoki says although there was no lactating room at the workplace, her previous employer allowed her to use the bathroom to express milk.
“When we had our baby, my husband was working from home and could easily monitor her feeding schedules measuring which amount would satisfy her and at what intervals,” she says.
Margaret Wanjiku is the CEO of African Tokikou Safaris and a mother of two who shares how she navigated her work demands and exclusively breastfed. PHOTO | POOL
Lilian Wangui, a mother of one, underscores that career and motherhood should not be at odds. The 28-year-old programme manager shares that not being obligated to work 8am to 5pm offered her plenty of time to navigate and get accultured to motherhood.
From the seventh month of pregnancy, Ms Wangui shifted to a hybrid working model and would pop into the office twice or thrice a week if need be.
Three months after her maternity leave, Ms Wangui went back fully to the office and would express milk between two and three hours.
“Unfortunately, my workplace does not have a lactation room but I was lucky because I have my own office. I would lock it and express.
Though we have a fridge, I chose to store my expressed milk in the cooler bag in my car because for some reason people view breast milk as disgusting,” she shares.
According to Ms Wangui, her daughter had enough supply before her maternity leave elapsed and kept replenishing the bags per every feed.
“My last pumping session would be around 9pm and at night, I would breastfeed her directly. As she grew, I went on reducing the number of times I would breastfeed her at night,” she adds.
While she was on maternity leave, Ms Wangui says, her partner did not get a paternity leave and she would often feel overwhelmed in the initial months.
“We would get into friction because I needed him to watch over the baby at night while I slept and, on the other hand, he wanted to sleep in so that he could be able to work well the next day,” she reveals.
Mercy Muchoki is a secondary school teacher who managed to exclusively breastfeed her child thanks to the flexible working hours her employer gave her. PHOTO | POOL
However, over time, they got to understand each other and would take turns during the night to take care of the baby.
“I would sleep at around 8pm and he would stay with him up to around midnight where he would come to bed and I take over. My baby would sleep around 3-4am and though I would rock her, most of the time I would doze off on the couch.”
According to a survey conducted by career coach Jane Mutisya on 46 women, only 27 of them were able to exclusively breastfeed their children for the first six months.
Some attributed the biggest challenge for breastfeeding after maternity leave to reduced milk supply due to work-related demands, not being able to manage work and thinking about their baby at home and lack of enough time to take care of the young ones.
“Thirty-eight employed women did not have a lactating room at their workplace and would express in the washrooms, car, clinic and hotels.
“Some did not express and their breasts would pain them while others would leak. They would smell and be discriminated against,” says Ms Mutisya.
As the world observes the breastfeeding week this year, the focal point is making breastfeeding and employment work.
The World Health Organisation data shows that more than 500 million working women are not given essential maternity protections in national laws.
Only 20 percent of countries require employers to provide staff with paid breaks and facilities for breastfeeding or expressing milk with fewer than half of infants under six months of age being exclusively breastfed.
Rachel Wanjugu, a nutritionist at the Health Ministry under the Department of Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition, emphasised breastfeeding as a human rights issue for babies and mothers under the Constitution.
These rights are enshrined under Article 53 (1c) which gives every child the right to basic nutrition, shelter and healthcare and Article 43 (1c) on economic and social rights provides for freedom from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality.
Further, the Health Act, 2017 subsection 71 (1) says that all employers in the workplace should establish lactation stations which are adequately provided with necessary equipment and facilities including; a handwashing equipment, refrigerators or appropriate cooling facilities, electrical outlets for breast pumps, a small table and comfortable seats.
"(2) All lactation stations shall not be located in the restroom. (3) All employers shall take strict measures to prevent any direct or indirect form of promotion, marketing and or selling of infant formula and (or) breastfeeding substitutes within the lactation stations," reads the Health Act.
Additionally, employers should grant all nursing employees break intervals in addition to the regular times off for meals to breastfeed or express milk.
These time intervals shall include the time it takes an employee to get to and from the lactation station and shall be counted as compensable hours worked provided that such intervals shall not be more than a total of one hour for every eight-hour working period.
Ms Wanjugu also notes that an employer should ensure that there is a baby-friendly breastfeeding policy, lactation room/station, time and social support structures for breastfeeding within the workplace.
According to the Employment Act,2007, section 29, the workplace policy should provide a minimum of three months of paid maternity leave and two weeks of paternity leave.
"All employees should be sensitized on the workplace breastfeeding policy. They should be reassured that their participation in the workplace is compatible with their reproductive function."
The policy should outline workplace provisions to enable female employees to maintain breastfeeding as well as highlight the employer's commitment to helping workers to achieve work-life balance through flexible working arrangements.
