This archive report was first published on 11 November 2019.
Published on November 11, 2019, a proposed law in Kenya seeks to give infants a two-year protection by making it compulsory for employers to provide breastfeeding spaces.
The Breastfeeding Mothers Bill of 2019, tabled in the National Assembly by Murang'a Women Representative Sabina Chege, requires all persons who own, lease or rent buildings holding at least 50 people to provide a clean, private lactation room.
The room should have a baby changing table, waste bucket, and a sign indicating its location, according to the bill.
Employers who fail to provide lactation rooms will face a fine of up to Ksh1 million, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.
Additionally, those fined for failure to provide lactation rooms will also pay Ksh10,000 each day during which the offence continues until they put up the facilities.
Currently, only a handful of private and public organisations have lactation rooms, forcing many breastfeeding mothers to express milk in cars, washrooms, or empty boardrooms.
