Design and Development of functional clothing for breastfeeding women in Chitungwiza town, Zimbabwe

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Lecturer, Department of Art Design and Technology Education. Faculty of Education, University of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Breastfeeding women face a lot of physical and emotional challenges during the entire breastfeeding duration due to uncomfortable clothing. Available clothes frustrate and inconvenience the mothers because of the inaccessibility of the breast. Design and development of functional, modest and comfortable apparel for breastfeeding mothers have been given little or no consideration in Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study was to determine the clothing needs and preferences of breastfeeding mothers. Accordingly, the identified user needs and design characteristics information was used to design and develop functional attire to facilitate and encourage breastfeeding even in public places. The study was guided by the Functional, Expressive and Aesthetic (FEA) Consumer Needs Model by Lamb and Kallal (1992). A Qualitative approach utilising a case study and Research and Development (R&D) was employed in the study. Data was collected using interviews, observations and analysis of the participants’ apparel. Purposive sampling was used to select ten breastfeeding mothers from Chitungwiza Town. Results showed that apparel available on the market does not allow mothers to breastfeed with ease. Most mothers end up covering their breasts and tummies with separate pieces of cloth when breastfeeding in public to avoid indecent exposure that causes shame and ridicule. The study suggested functional and aesthetic bodices that can be fastened with zips, buttons or Velcro in horizontal, vertical or diagonal directions around the bust area for easy- of- use when breastfeeding. Hence, five prototypes were designed and developed.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics