Advocating for Paid Maternity Leave and Workplace Lactation Policy Reform and Implementation

Lessons Learned From Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam

Bibliographic Data

ID15536638
AuthorsMichelle E Anderson (0000-0003-3230-4677, University of Southern California), J William McGowan (University of Southern California), Jessica Escobar‐DeMarco (0009-0005-9425-9586, University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Sujata Bose (0000-0003-3049-9538), Edward A Frongillo (0000-0002-8265-9815, University of South Carolina), Laura Ferguson (0000-0002-1340-793X, University of Southern California, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume21
Issue2
Pagese13784-e13784
Publication date2024-12-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mcn.13784
PMID39660877
OpenAlexW4405280869
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited14

Maternity protection policies are designed to preserve the health of working women and their infants, support optimal infant and young child nutrition through breastfeeding and prevent workplace discrimination against women. The aim of this study was to identify how advocates may be able to effectively advance maternal leave and workplace lactation policies, two key maternity protection policies, and does so through an exploration of advocacy efforts in Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam. A desk review of programme and policy documents and 20 key informant interviews with diverse stakeholders explored advocacy efforts in each of the four countries. Thematic analyses of documents and interviews identified key considerations, challenges and success factors within each country context. These lessons can inform maternity protection policy reform efforts more broadly. Study findings show that effective, context-specific advocacy rests on strong partnerships with traditional and nontraditional stakeholders informed by opinion leader research and strengthened through various avenues of consensus-building. Contextual considerations are essential for identifying attainable policy asks and developing an advocacy strategy, with attention to a country's governance structure and availability of funding for social protections. Lastly, advocacy efforts may be most successful by presenting expanded paid maternity leave and breastfeeding-friendly workplaces as parts of a set of social protections with synergistic benefits. These lessons are intended to help inform how policy advocates can better design and implement advocacy approaches for maternity protection and entitlement policies

Breastfeeding · Business · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Entitlement (fair division · Policy advocacy · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Qualitative research · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Breastfeeding Practices and Influences · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Nursing · Health Policy

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