Abstract
Nurses, the primary promoters of Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF) to mothers, find it challenging to practice it themselves because of their work situations and environments. They care for patients with infections and work in infectious environments. They don’t wish to expose their babies to these environments because the babies' immunities are still very low, making them prone to acquiring nosocomial infections, which are costly to treat. Besides, all children, including those of nurses, are prohibited by law from visiting their sick relatives in hospital wards, a factor that preludes the presence of all children from the hospital environment, including those of nurses. The relatively low EBF practice among nurses can be attributed to this fact. Some studies have confirmed that the practice of EBF is low among nurses (e.g. 35.9% in Ethiopia; 11.1% in Nigeria; and 21.3% in Kenya [at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH)]). The objective of this study was to demonstrate that indirect costs to employers are higher for NON-EBF than for EBF female, lactating, nurses. It has succeeded in demonstrating that lactating nurses who practice EBF during the first six months of their baby’s life, take less time off work due to illness of the baby upon returning back to work after maternity leave. There verse is also true in that lactating nurses who practice NON-EBF were found to take more time off to care for their sick babies after they return to work from maternity leave. The focus of the study was to show that overall healthcare costs are lower for all stakeholders under EBF than otherwise. The study used prospective cohort design, mixed methods and purposive sampling technique. The study population was female nurses of reproductive age. Using the employer as the primary beneficiary of a non-absentee workforce, the study was able to demonstrate that employers incur less indirect costs on the section of this cadre of staff that practices EBF than otherwise, (t=0.71132, df=4, p-value=0.0162) and (r=0.3350988, p<0.05). The study was also able to demonstrate further that longer maternity leaves for this cadre of staff may be more beneficial to all stakeholders than otherwise. On these bases, the study was able to suggest change in the Kenyan government maternity leave policy from the current three months to the six months recommended by some sector players like the World Health Organization (WHO) and others, and as supported by other studies in the subject matter.
Highlights
Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF) is essential for early childhood development [23] because of the extensive evidence for short-term and longterm health benefits, for both mother and infant [21]
The employer issued many days to the NON-EBF respondents compared to EBF respondents in the six month follow up, a lot of money was lost by the employer to the NON-EBF respondents compared to the EBF respondents
The association was further analysed using t–test and correlation analysis and the results were (t=0.71132, df=4, pvalue=0.0162) and (r=0.3350988, p
Summary
EBF is essential for early childhood development [23] because of the extensive evidence for short-term and longterm health benefits, for both mother and infant [21]. Other studies have shown that in order to achieve EBF, lactating working mothers have been encouraged to bring along their babies to work and to take lactation breaks in between work, [5] Where as this may work for other lactating working mothers, it does not work well for nurses because they work in a highly infectious environment that could predispose their babies to nosocomial infections. An analytic study done in 2001 found that $3.6 billion (Ksh 364.14 billion) would be saved if the prevalence of EBF increased from the current rates of 29% to the 50% recommended by the Surgeon General These savings would result from reducing both direct costs (such as formula costs and physician, clinic, hospital, laboratory and procedural fees) and indirect costs (such as time and wages lost by employers through a parent attending to an ill child) [20]
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