Institutional support for breastfeeding in Ghana: a case study of University of Education, Winneba

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study explored institutional support for breastfeeding student-mothers in the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. It also examined challenges associated with combining academic work with breastfeeding and childcare.ResultsFindings show that although the University as an institution does not have any formal system in place to support breastfeeding among student-mothers, it does follow the provisions made for breastfeeding under the maternity protection section of the labor Act (Act, 651) for its employees. Consequently, breastfeeding student mothers use under trees, lobbies, and Junior Common Rooms of on-campus halls of residence as lactation sites which exposes their babies to risk of infection. The absence of support put student-mothers through stress, divided attention, and conflicting responsibilities between academic work and childcare. Further studies to investigate the situation on other university campuses are recommended to promote policy and interventions on breastfeeding and childcare in tertiary institutions in Ghana to enable students maintain a balance between breastfeeding, childcare and academic work.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3608-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Towards A Comprehensive Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Environment: Insight From Selected Health Facilities In The Central Region of Ghana

“…Support from husbands and relatives were supportive in coping with stress and burnout arising from work and breastfeeding. This result is consistent with research ndings in Ghana, where family support was supportive of exclusive breastfeeding practice among working mothers [8].…”

“…However, work-breastfeeding tension is experienced differently depending on the type of work a mother does. In some cases, the con ict between work and breastfeeding has led some mothers to withdraw from work or spend less time with babies [8,9]. Also, it has been found that poor recommendations of exclusive breastfeeding from health workers and shorter duration of maternity leave are partly the reasons behind the decline in exclusive breastfeeding at six months [10].…”

“…A study of institutional-level support for breastfeeding among tertiary students also found a stern con ict between breastfeeding and academic work due to lack of breastfeeding support for student-mothers. In this study, student-mothers used unapproved and unsafe places as breastfeeding facilities [8].…”

“…Questionnaires were used to gather data from breastfeeding front-line health workers while in-depth interviews were used to gather data from representatives of healthcare facilities in the study. Research instruments were developed by authors based on literature review [8,14,16,28,29,30], (see supplementary le for details). After obtaining written consent from the frontline health workers, questionnaires were given to participants to complete.…”

Awareness of Breastfeeding Laws and Provisions of Students and Employees of Institutions of Higher Learning in Georgia

“…Authorities could work with student governments and other student organizations at the various campuses to inform and educate their student bodies about breastfeeding resources and provisions available to them. Anecdotally, WEB (coauthor) has known faculty members and graduate students who hung curtains in office windows or used a small storage closet as space to express milk at one of the participating institutions (American University Washington, 2018; Nkrumah & Gbagbo, 2018; Welek, 2015). Also, particularly undergraduate students have used either the office or lab space of AKA (the lead author) to express their milk.…”