Investigating Effect of the Mandatory Three-Month Maternity Leave on Working Mothers and their Infants at the University of Education, Winneba

Abstract

This paper investigated effect of the mandatory three-month maternity leave on the health of working mothers and the development of their infants at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). Bowlby’s (1988) theory of attachment underpinned the study. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Purposive sampling was used to select 140 working mothers from the two campuses of the University. A questionnaire made up of structured close-ended questions and few open-ended questions was used as the instrument for data collection. 121 out of 140 of the questionnaires administered were retrieved for analysis. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that working mothers had knowledge of the nature of the three-month mandatory maternity leave and were of the view that the University’s maternity leave condition corresponded with the provisions in the Labour Act 2003. The study also found a linear relationship between maternity leave and exclusive breastfeeding, mother-child bond relationship and mothers’ recuperation. The three-month maternity leave granted to nursing mothers at the University of Education, Winneba was found not to be enough to enable them take good care of their infants. The three-month period also does not support the six-month exclusive breastfeeding. To improve the health of working mothers and their infants, it is recommended that the Management of the University of Education, Winneba extends the duration for the mandatory maternity leave to six months to enable nursing mothers to take proper care of their infants and go through the exclusive breastfeeding recommended by the WHO. The University should also provide childcare rooms to assist working mothers have their infants closer to them at the workplace to enable mothers breastfeed their infants.