Company offers breastfeeding moms new perk

Lucy Mwaura, a factory hygienist at Nestlé Kenya Limited , on Tuesday became the face of women employees with babies. The company was handing them a new exciting perk; a breastfeeding room for lactating mothers.

It might not sound like much, but for the third-time mother who is currently nursing a six-month-old daughter, it makes all the difference. When the room was availed she exhaled with relief.

“Before, the only place where we could express our milk was in the toilet. And as we all know, nobody would be very pleased to eat food they knew was prepared in a toilet, but that is where we’ve been preparing our baby’s food,” she says.

She admits that it was not the most comfortable place, but it had to do as anywhere else meant running the risk of prying eyes especially of male colleagues.

“I have been in the toilet and seen frustrated mothers who felt it was a bit of an unsavoury, so they come to the toilet not to procure the milk for the bottle, but to drain it out right into the sink.”

LACK OF CONCENTRATION

Lucy explains that it is quite uncomfortable to have breasts full of milk but no baby to feed.

 “You can barely concentrate at work, you risk losing the ability to produce milk as the signal this sends to the brain is that the milk is no longer needed.”

Though Lucy mustered the guts to store the milk in containers for her nursing daughter, she had to deal with the fretting that came with wondering whether this milk would make it home fresh and safe for her.

“Now all these worries are behind me,” she says exhilarated, for in this new facility established within the company’s Industrial Area complex, is a fridge in which they will be storing the milk until it is time to go home.

Also, in the tiny but quite aesthetically stimulating room are a sink, cushy couch, cabinets and everything else to ensure the mother’s comfort. It is a room that Ms Ciru Miring’u head of Nestlé says does not have to cost companies much especially if they genuinely have the interest of their workers as a priority. The room cost Shs400,000 to set up.

While encouraging other companies to take the cue, she says:

 “There are many reasons why having a lactation room makes sense for an organisation. It has been proven that we can expect lower medical costs and health insurance claims for breastfeeding employees and their infants, lower absenteeism rates, improved productivity, increased employee morale as well as reduced turnover rates.”

POSITIVE EFFECTS

Breastfed babies have scientifically been found to suffer fewer illnesses, and it has also been said to have positive effect  on children’s cognitive development.

Breastfeeding also benefits the mother as women who breastfeed generally recover from pregnancy faster and their breast cancer risk is  reduced considerably.

She said with an increasing number of young mothers in the workplace given Kenya’s very youthful population, it was prudent for organisations to start developing support systems that will help female employees manage their multiple roles to achieve both work place success and family harmony.

“The provision of this facility will enable the mothers of young children in our organisation to rise to their fullest potential both as employees and as mothers,” she said.

Emerging statistics indicate that the incidence of breast-feeding amongst mothers drops considerably when they return to work and that this is more likely the higher their socio-economic status or the more complex their job.

The CEO of FKE (Federation of Kenyan Employers), Jacqueline Mugo while opening the new facility acknowledged that the working woman faces the challenge of juggling domestic responsibilities with work obligations.

“To witness the launch of a breastfeeding facility here today is indeed a sign of good things to come from the corporate world in so far as offering support to employees,” she said.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTTOM LINE

Ms Mugo said while many businesses looking to save on costs and maximise work time might question why employee wellness is the employer’s responsibility, they ought to start looking at such investments as contributions to the bottom-line in terms of reduced health care costs, reduced absenteeism, an increased intention by employees to stay with the employer longer and increased level of commitment from employees.

“The best companies to work for are increasingly making investments in employee wellness programmes and offering an array of onsite services,” she said.

 “If just a small increase in employee wellness could be achieved, a considerable impact could be had on profit and loss. This investment by Nestle Kenya is an investment in being a great workplace which statistics show pays off, whether it is from increase revenues, decreased expenses, or greater per worker productivity.”

She noted that the initiative by Nestlé is in line with World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and the revised ILO Convention 183 on Maternity Protection. She said, “We are aiming to encourage all our members to implement this as a matter of priority.”

She promised to actively engage with all employers in Kenya to ensure that similar programmes take root and become a norm in Kenya and the region.

Only a handful organisations in Kenya currently have an enabling environment for breastfeeding employees aside from ensuring that mothers are able to get time off and flexible working times in order to take care of their young ones.

Nestlé joins a league of Kenyan companies publicly known to be supportive of breastfeeding mothers including Safaricom, Oserian and EPZ.