A Review of “The National Breastfeeding Policy in Nigeria: The Working Mother and the Law”

Abstract

Authors Worugji and Etuk an attorney and physician respectively in Nigeria provide a synopsis of the employment laws and tenets protecting Nigerian women around the event of childbearing to support a plea that Nigeria catch up with the modern world in protecting women during pregnancy childbearing and breastfeeding (“The National Breastfeeding Policy in Nigeria: The Working Mother and the Law” in this issue). What is at once interesting and of note to Americans and westernized cultures is that Nigeria’s laws are more generous and economically protective that those in the United States. Women in the United States accustomed to the notion that America is “the best” are shocked when upon learning of their pregnancy they discover that their employers do not have to pay them during their maternity leave and that even unpaid leave is limited. A bit of history first. In the United States the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1992 first signed into law by President Clinton requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide up to 4 months of unpaid leave for varied family health issues including pregnancy and care of a newborn. In addition most states have disability programs that provide women with paid disability leave albeit limited. While the FMLA allows states to set standards that are more expansive than the federal law in 1999 only “19 states had family leave laws that apply to private-sector employees...that are...more generous than the FMLA.” For example some states lower the number of employees to 25 or fewer. (excerpt)