How to make the workplace a better place for working mothers (Part 1)

The reality of exclusively breastfeeding as a working mother

First published: 7 June 2020

This particular topic is very dear to my heart. As a follow up to my post on Maternity leave in Ghana I decided to go further to solicit the opinions of others to confirm if my thoughts and expectations were too far off relative to others. A survey was conducted to explore the reality of exclusive breastfeeding relative to the maternity leave options available to working mothers and parents.

Disclaimer: This survey was conducted pre-covid era but will do my best to factor in the new changes and its effects on my planned original post.

To make this an easy read, it would be broken down into 3 parts.

• The first part will explore the current work policies and whether in the viewpoint of workers it helps mothers to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months;
• the second part will assess what the companies are doing differently from others and areas of improvement; and
• finally the last part will focus on flexible work options and most preferred form of maternity mix packages.

17 respondents made up of 10 females and 7 males shared their opinion on the topic. A varied view was needed to gain an open-minded insight into this short study.

As expected, most institutions have a 3 months leave policy for working mothers.

Companies like Guinness Ghana implemented in July 2019 the 6 months (26 months) fully paid maternity leave with fathers enjoying 4 weeks paid paternity too. This seems to indicate that some companies are slowly considering the wellbeing of families as part of their value system.

It can equally be argued that Guinness Ghana is a multi-national company which it makes it easier for them to afford to do so. This would be a challenge for a small private company but like I always say, it is possible for both parties to reach a middle ground. I proffered some solutions to this in my post on Ghana’s maternity leave. What do you also think?

Assuming all the females voted for a “No” then it means we have 1 male respondent who might seen a mother struggling or probably had his wife struggle to exclusively breastfeed with the maternity leave policy of their company.

@mophie227 Your inability to exclusively breastfeed your baby for 6months does not make you a bad parent! -OMT

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What do you think companies can do differently? What are your experiences with maternity leave? Do you know of any small company providing maternity leave above the 3 months?

Tell us about it in the comments section or email omtsdigest@gmail.com