Between Motherhood and Livelihood: Making Breastfeeding Work
A mother’s livelihood does not pause when her child needs to breastfeed. Caregiving unfolds within the same working day as income generation, making the conditions of the market critical to women’s ability to sustain both. For women traders, breastfeeding safely and with dignity requires more than individual choice; it depends on access to appropriate space, privacy, time, supportive facilities, childcare, and accurate breastfeeding information and support.
These realities formed the heart of the hybrid Breastfeeding Month seminar held at Muthurwa Market 26th August 2026, under the theme “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works.” Spearheaded by Wow Mom Kenya in partnership with Nairobi City County Government (NCCG), Maziwa Breastfeeding and Giving Light to Society, The session embedded breastfeeding education and support within the market environment, recognising the realities of women who combine caregiving with economic activity.
The conversation went beyond the importance of breastfeeding. It asked a more practical question: What does it take for a market trader in one of Nairobi's busy markets to sustain breastfeeding when work cannot simply stop?
Mili Karina, Maternal and Newborn Health Specialist, Nurse Midwife and IBCLC Lactation Consultant at Maziwa Breastfeeding, guided participants through the evidence and practical knowledge that mothers need. She addressed common breastfeeding myths and misconceptions, explored the benefits of breastmilk expression for mothers and babies, and discussed the basics of expressing and safely managing breastmilk. The session also covered exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months, the nutritional value of breastmilk, breastfeeding duration and the transition to complementary feeding.
Yet the ability to express breastmilk is shaped by the environment around a mother—where she can leave her child, where she can express and safely store breastmilk, how long she is able to take away from her work, and whether reliable childcare is within reach. For breastfeeding to remain possible within a working mother’s day, these practical conditions matter. Peninah Ndegwa, Founder and CEO of Wow Mom Kenya, connected the discussion to these wider realities of care, drawing from lived experience to reflect on what women in Muthurwa need from an accessible, responsive childcare model. Women were invited to consider what childcare could look like within a market operating across extended hours, including the emerging proposal for a 24-hour childcare model at Muthurwa.
The discussion also highlighted the wider support systems that enable women to sustain breastfeeding and care for their children. The contributions from Mercy Wanjohi, Deputy Director of Gender and Inclusivity NCCG, brought gender and inclusion into focus, while Maureen Maundu, Social Worker at Starehe Sub-County, grounded the conversation in counselling, home visits and pathways for continued family support. Peter Oyugi highlighted the importance of safe community spaces for bringing people together around care and wellbeing. Cumulatively, these discussions connected maternal, newborn, and child health services, information, and ongoing support.
What made the seminar powerful was the recognition that a woman’s breastfeeding journey does not exist in isolation. It is shaped by her workplace, her income, her support system, her childcare arrangements and the services available around her.
For the women of Muthurwa, “strengthen what works” means making breastfeeding support practical, accessible and responsive to their lived realities. It means creating conditions where a mother can breastfeed her child without stepping away from the livelihood that sustains her family.
When breastfeeding is accommodated within the places where women earn their livelihoods, the benefits extend beyond mother and child. It strengthens families, contributes to healthier communities and advances care systems that recognise caregiving as part of economic life.