World Breastfeeding Week: When work forces mothers to stop breastfeeding

Seven months into her pregnancy, Ope is eagerly preparing for motherhood. Like many expectant mothers, she hopes to exclusively breastfeed her baby for the first six months of life, giving her child the healthiest possible start. But as she starts planning her return to work, she is discovering that good intentions alone may not be enough, as she encounters harsh realities about successful exclusive breastfeeding.

As a private-sector employee, Ope knows that once her maternity leave ends, she will have to resume work long before her baby reaches the recommended six months of exclusive breastfeeding.

After giving birth, she has only six weeks of maternity leave at 50 percent of her salary before returning to work. She has also learnt that her workplace has no designated breastfeeding room, no crèche, and no private space where nursing mothers can express and safely store breast milk. Many of her female colleagues resort to breastfeeding in the parking lot, using wrappers for a measure of privacy.

Ope’s story is not unique; it reflects the experience of thousands of working mothers across Nigeria who want to practice exclusive breastfeeding but are constrained by the environments in which they live and work.

The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age and beyond. Yet the 2023–24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey reports that only 28.8 percent of Nigerian infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, a figure well below the 50 percent global target, raising an important question: If mothers know breastfeeding is best, why are so few able to sustain it?

The answer extends beyond awareness. Evidence from studies across Nigeria shows that although over 90 percent of mothers understand the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, many struggle to practise it because of structural barriers. These include short maternity leave, unsupportive workplaces, inadequate health-system support, and persistent community misconceptions.

In other words, the challenge is not simply convincing mothers to breastfeed; it is creating conditions that make breastfeeding convenient.

One of the most significant barriers is maternity protection. Nigeria’s Labour Act provides twelve weeks for the private sector and 112 working days for federal employees, both of which fall short of the recommended six months. For many women in the private sector, returning to work while their babies are still very young creates enormous practical challenges.

Financial pressures are also increased by the requirement of approximately 50 percent pay during maternity leave, which forces mothers back to work sooner. Even where nursing breaks are provided—often just two thirty-minute breaks daily—many workplaces lack private breastfeeding rooms, childcare facilities, or flexible work arrangements that enable mothers to continue breastfeeding after resuming work. This gap is even more pronounced in the informal sector, where women in markets and agriculture often receive no maternity leave or paid leave at all.

Support should not end at the workplace. Health facilities also play a vital role in helping mothers overcome common breastfeeding challenges. When Ope shared her concerns about breastfeeding—the rumours about pain, her worries about not being able to breastfeed, and what to do in such situations—she could not get a satisfactory answer from healthcare workers.

This is a very common situation in the Nigerian healthcare system, as evidenced by several assessments of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) that have identified suboptimal knowledge among healthcare workers, especially regarding maternal illnesses and positioning. These findings highlight the need for continuous professional education to strengthen breastfeeding counselling.

Communities and families are equally important. Decisions about infant feeding are often influenced not only by mothers but also by husbands, grandmothers, in-laws, neighbours, and friends.

Well-intentioned advice may encourage mothers to introduce water, herbal mixtures, or other foods long before six months, or to discard colostrum, driven by deeply held beliefs and biases. Strengthening community support groups and involving fathers and older family members in breastfeeding education can help create environments where mothers feel encouraged rather than discouraged.

This year’s World Breastfeeding Week theme, ‘Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works,’ reminds us that successful breastfeeding is not solely a mother’s responsibility.

Governments must strengthen maternity protection policies by aligning maternity leave with the recommended six months of exclusive breastfeeding, ensuring adequate maternity benefits, and extending these protections to women in the private and informal sectors.

Employers also have a critical role to play by creating breastfeeding-friendly workplaces through designated lactation rooms, on-site crèches where feasible, and flexible, paid nursing breaks that enable mothers to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.

Healthcare workers should receive regular training and continuing education to provide accurate, practical breastfeeding counselling, ensuring that antenatal visits include well-structured education and opportunities for mothers to ask questions.

Families and communities, especially fathers and older women, should actively support mothers throughout their breastfeeding journey by encouraging exclusive breastfeeding and challenging harmful myths and misconceptions.

Supporting breastfeeding is far more than a health intervention. It is an investment in healthier children, healthier mothers, a more productive workforce, and a stronger Nigeria.

Every mother should have the opportunity to exclusively breastfeed if she chooses to do so—not because she is expected to overcome every obstacle alone, but because society has created the support systems that allow her to succeed.