Exclusive breastfeeding is deemed a highly effective method for fostering a strong mother-infant bond and enhancing the toddler’s immune system.
However, the positive statistics of exclusive six-month breastfeeding in the country have been dropping over the last ten years, prompting the healthcare champions to be extremely concerned.
Lack of lactation stations within the workplaces has been attributed to this fact, with the majority of Kenyan mothers being working class.
According to the Ministry of Health, the dwindling positive statistics on exclusive breastfeeding for six months have dropped from 62 percent in 2014 to 60 percent in 2024.
Section 71 of Health Act No 21 of 2017 on lactation stations in the workplace dictates that employers shall establish lactation stations in the workplace, which shall be adequately provided with necessary equipment and facilities including handwashing equipment, outlets for breast pumps and other standards, which shall be defined by the Ministry of Health.
However, the Act has not been fully adhered to.
But Rongo University is one institution that has taken the initiative and steps to comply with the Health Act of 2017 by providing for its staff and students a creche to give them a decent place to breastfeed.
The university’s Child Care Center, funded by the Child Fund and the Lake Region Development Programme, was formed to give lactating students an enabling environment and a decent place to breastfeed their infants without interrupting their lecture sessions.
According to Prof Wilson Otenga, the principal partner and patron of Rongo Child Care Unit, the crèche has ensured inclusivity in education, a decent breastfeeding place for student mothers and day care for the infants.
Otenga says that the Child Care Unit was formed based on three principles: to help the child’s mother/student mother to post good marks by attending lectures, the child to get proper growth and development through the provision of a good environment and the student mother to get something to eat to generate milk and energy to study.
The official disclosed that Rongo University has over 150 student mothers who need support to help them give the best to their infants as well as concentrate on their education.
During the 2025 January-May semester, 55 student mothers from the institution had utilized the center, indicating how important the crèche has been in helping to address the issue of providing a decent place to breastfeed.
The unit also acts as a day care facility where student mothers and staff drop their young ones for care under the supervision of two staff who were seconded by Rongo University.
Daily, the facility can receive between 20 and 30 children aged between six months and three years. The day care operations start as early as seven o’clock and end as late as 5.30pm.
Otenga also confirmed that the facility has helped student mothers to run their side hustles to sustain themselves when not in lecture halls.
“Students drop their young ones at the facility to either attend lectures or run their side hustles to generate some income that can sustain them throughout the semester,” said Mr. Otenga.
Although the facility has become a big success on the campus, challenges of bedding and toys (indoors and outdoors) remain a challenge.
From their initiatives, the staff and student mothers utilizing the facility decided to contribute Sh 50 per day to help cater for soap, uji and other necessary items needed by infants.
The official, however, appealed for more partners to come on board and assist the facility in purchasing more bedding and toys to enable it provide an enabling environment for the infants.
“We want our student mothers to have a conducive place where they can breastfeed and leave their young ones to help them concentrate on their educations to make a better life for themselves,” explained Otenga.
Ms. Claire Akoth, a fourth-year sociology and community development student at the institution, acknowledges that the institution’s crèche has enabled her to breastfeed her baby without worrying about missing classes or extracurricular activities.
Ms. Akoth says that before the establishment of the facility, she used to leave her child with one of her best friends in order to attend lectures.
“I was so stressed out because at times I had to miss lectures because some lectures collided with my friend’s sessions,” she noted.
The child facility helped her a lot, enabling her to breastfeed her child for one and a half years without interrupting her lecture sessions.
She applauded the facility’s management for keeping her babies safe through the watch of two caregivers, enabling her not only to concentrate on her education but also to run some businesses that help her foot the bills.
Akoth says that although she was not able to exclusively breastfeed her baby for the first six months due to challenges of balancing her education, she is proud that the new facility will help a lot of mother students to do the same and put a smile on the faces of infants.
Ms. Mary Omondi, an international relations and diplomacy student at the institution, disclosed that she used to pump milk for her child to avoid missing lectures.
Omondi explained that the process was tiresome, and the pumped milk could only last for three hours before going bad.
“I had to ensure that after three hours, I rush to the house to breastfeed my child because the pumped milk could only last for three hours,” explained Omondi.
She also disclosed that a lack of diet sometimes forced her not to breastfeed to take care of her health.
“We have a lot of financial challenges on the campus, and sometimes you can lack food that is needed to produce milk for you to breastfeed,” said Omondi.
Omondi, whose graduation comes in December this year, applauded the institution’s efforts to set up the creche to enable student mothers to breastfeed their young ones.
She stressed that the unit will not only help mothers to bond with their children, but it will also offer a bright future in ensuring inclusivity in education for the student mothers.
Rongo University Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Samuel Gudu said the university, through its council, saw it fit to build a day care facility within the institution to cater to university staff and students’ mothers to have a decent place for breastfeeding.
Prof. Gudu said that the center has helped mothers who are students in the institution humble time to breastfeed and bond with their infants without missing classes and other extracurricular activities.
The facility has also helped staff to report to their duty stations without worrying about their young ones, giving them an extra motivation to perform their tasks in the institution.
According to Gudu, the university is committed to developing skills in health care and to doing research and innovation towards breastfeeding to contribute positively to the health care system.
Rongo University Care child unit has shown that the institution is committed to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5), a 2030 agenda for sustainable development focusing on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls in addressing challenges like education inclusivity, discrimination and violence.
The institution, if properly funded can achieve more to boost the breastfeeding care facility, like the introduction of the Breast Milk Banking, which involves the collection, screening, processing, and distribution of donated human milk to support infants, especially those who are premature or have health issues.
Migori County is also following in the footsteps of Rongo University in trying to establish crèche units in its newly built markets under construction across the county.
According to Migori Governor Dr. Ochilo Ayacko, the ten modern markets under construction across the county will have a section of child care to accommodate breastfeeding businesswomen.
The day care sections in markets will ensure businesswomencontinue doing their chores, as well as provide a place for kids to play and bond.
Ochilo, who spoke during the World Breastfeeding Week at Rongo University, said that such crèches within the markets will provide a decent place for mothers to breastfeed, a commitment his administration will advance to promote exclusive breastfeeding initiatives.
By Makokha Khaoya and George Agimba
