Nigeria: Mothers demand longer maternity leave

One month after giving birth to her first child, Yetunde Oyerinde faced a dilemma: return to work as a primary school teacher or give up her job.

Oyerinde says she was unable to stand and teach in class so soon after giving birth because she was still healing from the delivery. 

But her employers, a private school in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state, only offered four weeks of paid maternity leave.

It wasn't until Oyerinde threatened to resign that the school budged and allowed her to take two months off — without pay.

"The way workplaces treat women is too harsh," 29-year-old Oyerinde said. 

Oyerinde is one of many working mothers caught in the difficult space between trying to build a family and earn a living.

With women making up some 44% of the 80 million workers in Nigeria, the country's maternity leave laws affect almost half the working population.

Weak laws, high exploitation

Compared to other African nations, Nigeria has a relatively progressive maternity leave policy — on paper, at least.

Women employed in the federal civil service are entitled to 16 weeks maternity leave at full pay. When mothers return to work, they can take two hours off a day to breastfeed.

In Lagos, Oyo, Kaduna and Ekiti states, public servants enjoy up to six months paid maternity leave. 

Mothers working in the private, non-profit or informal sectors have more limited benefits.

Under the country's Labour Act, mothers employed outside of the public sector are entitled to 12 weeks off. They are entitled to half pay if they've worked for their employer for at least six months.

But not only is this law weakly enforced, the limited maternity payments often aren't enough for a women to afford to stay at home. 

Lawrence Ajagbe, who heads a primary school in Nigeria's north-central Kwara state, says he encourages his female employees to take their mandated maternity leave with half pay. 

But he's not always successful.

"I'm having an issue with a female employee who wants to come back to work after a month because her half salary is not enough," Ajagbe told DW. 

"I think it's not right for the mother or baby but she is insistent."

Discrimination rife

Pregnant women or new mothers often face other types of unfair treatment. 

A lawyer, who did not want her name printed due to a pending court case, said her employers forced her to take leave without pay when she fell pregnant. 

They later fired her — an practice that amounts to discrimination and is illegal under Nigerian law. 

"The laws are there but the private sector sometimes doesn't follow them,'' said Toyin Adewale-Gabriel of Alive and Thrive, a non-profit pressing the Nigerian government for better working conditions for female workers. 

Benfits for mums and babies

There are many benefits when mothers and babies spend adequate time together.

Paid maternity leave, for example, is linked to lower chances of late-life depression and fewer marital problems for the mother, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Science Direct.

But breastfeeding is perhaps the most important factor in the argument for longer maternity breaks.

A mum can pass on immunity to certain illnesses to her baby through her breast milk, keeping her infant healthier. 

Diarrhea, which is the second biggest killer of children in Nigeria and a leading cause of malnutrition, is also more common in infants who aren't exclusively breastfed. 

Mothers also benefit from breastfeeding — it reduces their risk of breast cancer and diabetes, as well as other diseases. 

For these reasons, the World Health Organization recommends six months of exclusive breastfeeding.

Hard to breastfeed when working

But short paid maternal leave periods usually mean new moms in Nigeria have to turn to baby formulas instead as they drop their kids off at daycares or with family. 

Presently, only a third of Nigeria's 7 million yearly newborns are exclusively breastfed. 

Only around one in ten Nigerian organizations have a breastfeeding policy that would encourage new moms to pump milk or breastfeed at work.

Low breastfeeding rates could be harming Nigeria's economy in the long term. 

Newborn diseases like pneumonia and diarrhea — which can develop when a baby receives too little breast milk — presently cost Nigeria almost 7 billion naira ($22 million or €20 million) in annual medical treatment, according to research that Adewale-Gabriel of Alive and Thrive is involved in.

"It's not just a woman's problem alone when a woman doesn't have enough time to breastfeed," said Adewale-Gabriel. 

The positives of maternity protection, she explained, are that it makes more women likely to return to their employer and adds brighter, healthier kids to the workforce. 

"It's a win-win for everyone," she said.

Push for six months leave 

Dr. Gbemisola Boyede is on a mission. Her advocacy organization, Ask The Paediatrician, has gathered over 50,000 signatures petitioning the government for a six-month leave policy. 

Her cause is to counter what she calls Nigeria's "abysmal" infant mortality rate.

The West African nation records an alarming 72 infant deaths per 1,000 births. That's more than double the rate in neighboring Ghana, with 33 deaths per 1,000 births, and nearly three times the rate in South Africa. 

Although research showing a clear correlation is sparse, experts believe Nigeria's low breastfeeding rates are partly responsible for the country's high rate of infant deaths. 

To improve these statistics, said Boyede, a pediatrician, Nigeria needs to commit to proven child survival strategies, which include longer breastfeeding periods.

And to achieve this, she says, maternity leave needs to be longer.

But not everyone backs the idea of better maternity protection. 

Some argue that private companies would simply hire fewer women if laws mandated a six-month leave. And small business owners often complain too, citing increased costs.

Back in her home in Kaduna, Oyerinde shakes her head, still remembering her experience of having to fight for a longer time at home. 

Recently, a colleague who had given birth to twins resumed work after four weeks, Oyerinde said, because the woman was unwilling to lose her pay.

"What are we going to do?" Oyerinde asked in a resigned tone. "As women, we must eat."

Edity by: Kate Hairsine