Early Childhood Nutritional Implications of the Rise in Factory Employed Mothers in Rural Cambodia: A Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Limited research has been conducted on the maternal and child health situation of garment factory workers in Cambodia. This qualitative study investigated the health-seeking behaviours for maternal and infant care of female garment factory workers in Kampong Tralach district, Cambodia. METHODS: We conducted 54 in-depth interviews, six focus group discussions and observed two factories. Participants were pregnant women and mothers of infants who have worked in factories, young women currently working in factories, caregivers of children, village leaders, healthcare workers, and factory managers. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis was performed. RESULTS: The women were accessing regular antenatal and facility-based delivery care. Most factory managers provided maternity leave, and some also provided leave for regular antenatal (ANC) visits. Women often returned to work 2 months post-delivery and this triggered the cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. Feeding was also compromised for the 6-12 months old children as carers, delayed the introduction of complementary feeds. Factories were equipped with childcare and breastfeeding spaces, however these were not used due to both feasibility issues and distrust of factory management. Instead, grandmothers were the preferred childcare providers. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE Current factory policies regarding ANC, maternity leave and childcare provisions are context insensitive to rural workers who live far from the workplace to avail themselves of mandated ANC leave or breastfeeding breaks. Our study suggest that the increasing number of young women working in garment factories is compromising the early nutrition of their children, with a reduction in exclusive breastfeeding and inadequate complementary feeding.