An Ergonomic Design of Breastfeeding Chair for Filipino Mothers

This paper aims to design and develop an ergonomic breastfeeding chair that will be more comfortable and suitable for breastfeeding mothers by promoting an improved posture during breastfeeding and would decrease the risk of mothers for musculoskeletal disorders. According to the report from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 2010), breastfeeding mothers experience pain in neck, lower back, face and jaw due to prolonged sitting and awkward posture during breastfeeding. Mothers unconsciously slouch into positions that stress their joints, ligaments and muscles. They are also exposed to lifting force due to carrying of infants during breastfeeding. This posture aggravates painful muscle spasms and could lead to injury. Given these conditions, the researchers intend to design a breastfeeding chair for Filipino mothers using ergonomic intervention. Principles of anthropometry are used to come up with the dimensions of the proposed design based on the anthropometric measurements of the target users. Value analysis and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool are also used to identify the technicalities of the product based from the users' requirements. The proposed breastfeeding chair consists of a headrest, backrest, armrest with pulling arc handle, seat cushion and a 2-position locking foot stool. This ergonomic breastfeeding chair will not only provide comfort to the mothers but will also provide safe environment to the infants. The researchers have conducted review of related literature, direct observation, surveys, actual measurements and statistical analyses in order to describe factually and accurately the proposed design of breastfeeding chair.