Nursing Mothers appeal for extension of maternity leave period

In their quest to bond well with their newborn babies before resuming to work, nursing mothers are calling on government to extend the number of months meant for maternity leave in the country.

According to them, a two to three months extension is enough to ensure a successful growth of their newborn babies before heading back to work.

Speaking to the press when staff of Vita milk visited the Kaneshie Polyclinic, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and Mamprobi polyclinic during the mothers’ day celebration, some of the mothers noted that reviewing the maternity leave period has a lot of health benefits for both mothers and babies.

A nursing mother with name Lizbeth Tackie said: “I will be excited if the period is extended to six months because we need to do exclusive breastfeeding which lasts for six months but the three months period is too short. The immunity of the babies will be well built if we are given enough time to stay home.”

“My name is Lily Adjetey. At least five months will be okay to take very good care of my baby. Waking up in the morning and leaving my newborn baby after three months for work in a corporate environment is tedious,” another nursing mother said.

A midwifery officer at Kaneshie Polyclinic, Nana Konadu Wiredu corroborated the sentiments of the nursing mothers.

“For Ghana Health Service, we advocate for exclusive breastfeeding of which we say the mother should breastfeed for six months. Expressing breast milk before going to work is insufficient because you can’t express more. Coupled with this the mother may stay at the workplace for a long time so if the maternity leave is extended, it will be of great help to us all”.

On his part, Marketing Manager for Vita Milk, Samuel Dankyi- Boateng indicated that as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility it deems it fit to appreciate mothers on their day with vita milk products.

“One of the core values of the company is empowerment and first of all we must acknowledge mothers and appreciate them as they support us in our day to day endeavours”.

Source: citinewsroom