Breastfeeding Bill: A win for mothers, but will employers comply?
The Bill’s justification is that breastfeeding is the first preventive health measure that can be given to a child at birth, and that it also enhances the mother–infant bond.
What you need to know:
- Once the Bill becomes law, both public- and private-sector employers will be required to comply.
- Unfortunately, the typical private-sector entity considers such ventures additional costs that erode profits.
The passage of the Breastfeeding Mothers Bill by the National Assembly on October 14 was generally received positively. Barring any serious obstacle, it is bound to be assented to by the President and become law. The principal aim of the Bill is to oblige employers to create lactation spaces where employees with babies can breastfeed or express milk.
Such a lactation place shall be private, hygienic and comfortable, and not a bathroom or toilet; secure and safe; and furnished with a wash basin, fridge, sitting furniture and storage fixtures. It must have an electric outlet and lighting, besides any other relevant features. The space should also offer programmes that develop a baby’s cognitive, emotional, social and language abilities. Employers are to give breastfeeding staff reasonable breaks and flexible working hours, provided these are not abused. The Bill also outlaws discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or any other maternity-related condition. In addition, it declares that breastfeeding in public should not be construed as an indecent act.
The Bill’s justification is that breastfeeding is the first preventive health measure that can be given to a child at birth, and that it also enhances the mother–infant bond. Moreover, Kenya is a signatory to treaties that provide for an infant’s right to exclusive breastfeeding for six months. Furthermore, breastfeeding may save the country valuable foreign exchange that would otherwise be used for milk importation. The rationale concludes by stating that female employees currently exit the workforce or stop breastfeeding to ensure their job security, adding that no woman should be forced to compromise the health of her child in order to make a living.
Breastfeeding has many benefits. It facilitates the mother’s post-partum recovery because it releases oxytocin, the hormone that accelerates contraction of the uterus back to its normal size. Physical breastfeeding also consumes extra calories and therefore helps with weight loss. It reduces the risks of breast and ovarian cancers, diabetes and heart disease. By delaying the resumption of menses, breastfeeding contributes to birth spacing. It is also economical, since breast milk is naturally available and nutritionally wholesome.
Once the Bill becomes law, both public- and private-sector employers will be required to comply. Unfortunately, the typical private-sector entity considers such ventures additional costs that erode profits. In fact, some are unhappy even with the 90 days of maternity leave guaranteed in the Employment Act, on two grounds. First, temporarily replacing an employee creates a double wage burden. Second, when compounded with the 21 days of annual leave, maternity leave means that an employee can be technically away for close to five months, which many private-sector employers consider a drain, especially if there are multiple staff in the reproductive age group. Some companies may therefore decree that female employees proceeding on maternity leave forfeit their annual leave, or may take maternity leave only at least two years after the previous one. Some unscrupulous employers discriminate during recruitment by sidelining female candidates who have or intend to have children.
Non-governmental organisations were the first entities to establish mother-friendly spaces in Kenya. One pioneer was ActionAid, which established residential rooms for lactating mothers at its training centre in Kiboswa in the 1990s.
These rooms were spacious, had baby cots, and the kitchen was stocked with food suitable for babies. Many NGOs also began allowing female staff to carry along their babies and nannies to residential training so that they did not miss out on career-enhancing activities. The government slowly followed suit. Currently, the Kenya School of Government campus in Kabete, Nairobi, has accommodation facilities suited to trainees with babies. There are also corporate entities such as Safaricom and East African Breweries that have gone the extra mile by establishing full-fledged on-site workplace childcare centres for staff.
In essence, the Bill seeks to have motherhood acknowledged and appreciated as an asset to the economy rather than treated as a workplace nuisance. But while its passage is welcome, some members of the public wondered why it applies only to employers with at least 50 staff. Another pertinent question is whether the government also has a responsibility to establish lactation facilities in public spaces such as markets, transport hubs, roadside rest stops and public parks.
The government will, of course, enforce the eventual law. In Kenya, enforcement is often equated with coercion and punishment. Yet compliance can be achieved through friendlier means such as making expenses incurred in establishing such facilities tax-deductible, giving employers a grace period and creating awareness. But the best form of advocacy would be for the government to lead by example by establishing these units in its own workplaces.
The writer is a lecturer in Gender and Development Studies at South Eastern Kenya University ([email protected])
