Bill a godsend for mothers, babies

On Tuesday, Members of Parliament approved a Bill that makes it mandatory for employers to set up well equipped lactation stations within the office premises.

In addition, they are supposed to give all lactating mothers a one-hour break to breastfeed or express breast milk.

By providing conducive environment where lactating mothers can comfortably express and store their milk, employers will not only promote exclusive breast-feeding for a healthier future generation but will also have a more productive workforce that is not worried about their baby’s next meal or painful engorged breasts.

After expressing, breast milk can be stored in room temperature of 26 degrees centigrade or below for at least six hours.

In temperatures higher than this, the milk will become sour within a few hours. Facilities recommended in the Bill will ensure proper storage of breast milk. World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months as the best feeding option.

To attain optimal health, growth and development, WHO encourages infants to be fed on breast milk only, with no additional solids or liquids during that period, with continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or for as long as the mother and the baby desire.

During this period of life, breast milk supplies all the nutrients, water and energy that a baby requires.

It also provides up to half of a child’s nutritional requirements during the second half of the first year (six to twelve  months), and up to one-third during the second year of life.

According to Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014, only 61 per cent of children under six months are exclusively breastfed, with the proportion breastfed being higher within the first month and goes down subsequently.

For most working mothers, the first three months of exclusive breastfeeding are easy since maternity leave allows them to be in close proximity with the baby.

To manage exclusive breastfeeding for six months, mothers are encouraged to start expressing milk as early as the first week after delivery.

With proper storage, expressed breast milk can be frozen up to six months. The stored milk is fed to the baby when the mother is not near to breastfeed.

Most work places lack favourable environment for mothers to express and store breast milk and the proposed law should go a long way in fixing this. Expressing requires comfort and privacy away from distractions. When a mother starts to express or breastfeed, the nerves in the nipple are activated to release prolactin and oxytocin hormones that cause the breast to produce and let-down the milk.

Unfavourable environments for expressing can negatively affect let-down of milk making pumping difficult and frustrating.

Milk production operates on supply-and-demand basis; the more the breasts are emptied, the more milk they produce.

If a mother does not empty her breasts regularly, her milk supply will decrease. If the mother is only given a short time to express, she will not manage to fully empty her breasts which can cause breast engorgement, a very painful condition that makes breastfeeding and expressing very difficult.