# Identifying risk factors for sub-optimal breastfeeding and opportunities for breastfeeding promotion among working mothers in Kenya

> **NIH NIH K01** · WHEATON COLLEGE · 2020 · $133,893

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Sub-optimal breastfeeding is associated with increased morbidly and mortality in low and middle-income
countries. Mothers breastfeeding patterns are influenced by a variety of factors, which vary by context.
Generally, these include upstream influences like workplace policies and facility-based initiatives, interpersonal
influences like the availability peer-support, as well as individual-level influences such as mother's
breastfeeding intentions and breastfeeding self-efficacy. The relationship between women's work and
breastfeeding practices is unclear, especially in LMIC where employment is often informal and where
workplace lactation-support policies may be less available. In Kenya, exclusive breastfeeding rate remain low,
with only 40% of mothers EBF through 6 months, with the lowest rates among mothers employed in unskilled
manual labor (4.5%). In Naivasha, Kenya there is a high level of maternal employment in commercial
agriculture, mainly due to a large flower production industry, known as flori-culture. This study will 1) identify
workplace, socio-demographic, and behavioral risk factors for sub-optimal breastfeeding; 2) describe barriers
to successful implementation and use of existing maternity policies and assess the readiness to adopt BF-
policies and support practices in workplaces; and 3) determine the impact of adopting BF-supportive policies
and practices among mothers working in the flori-culture industry on women's productivity. These aims will
collectively identify new testable interventions to improve the implementation and use of BF-support practices
among working mothers, which will have generalizable impact to women's employment through LMIC, where
maternal employment is rapidly increasing as economies evolve and more women enter the formal workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9899344
- **Project number:** 5K01TW010827-04
- **Recipient organization:** WHEATON COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Scott B. Ickes
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $133,893
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-25 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9899344

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9899344, Identifying risk factors for sub-optimal breastfeeding and opportunities for breastfeeding promotion among working mothers in Kenya (5K01TW010827-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9899344. Licensed CC0.

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