Making the true value of breastfeeding visible
Challenge
Breastfeeding has many proven health benefits, yet in Nigeria, the exclusive breastfeeding rate is 29% below the global average. While some mothers can’t breastfeed for medical reasons, most are held back by social pressure, stigma, economic constraints, and a lack of support - especially in the workplace, where only 9% of employers offer breastfeeding-friendly policies.
At the same time, many mothers end up spending over 30% of their household budgets on formula, often driven by aggressive marketing. Since women are typically responsible for household spending, this cost directly limits their financial freedom and long-term security.
At Herconomy, Nigeria’s first digital bank for women, we saw an opportunity: to turn an invisible maternal act into a visible financial asset. Breastfeeding is known to be healthy, but it’s rarely seen as economically smart.
Our goal was to make breastfeeding visible, valuable, and financially rewarding. Not just through awareness, but by building a tool that transforms care into capital - helping mothers invest in both their children’s development and their own futures.
Turning care into capital
Solution
We created Breastmilk Money, a savings account that turns breastfeeding savings into high-interest earnings.
Directly in the Herconomy banking app, new or expecting mothers can enter their child’s age - or zero if the baby isn’t born yet. They then select daily intake levels based on WHO breastfeeding curves, and add their preferred formula price range using the latest market data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics. The app calculates how much they would save by not buying formula over the WHO-recommended two-year breastfeeding period. Each month, those savings are automatically transferred from their main Herconomy account into their Breastmilk Money savings account - where they earn 14.3% interest, a figure inspired by Oxford research linking breastfeeding to a 14.3% increase in the baby’s cognitive development.
Breastmilk Money was launched at Nigeria’s biggest women’s finance conference and supported by an integrated campaign that included education and resources for mothers facing breastfeeding challenges.
In its first three months, Breastmilk Money drove a 9% increase in breastfeeding in target area. An invisible maternal act became a visible financial opportunity, giving new relevance to both breastfeeding and female-focused finance.
Key Facts
"With Breastmilk Money, we hope to empower women, especially mothers, to make their own choices about their bodies and futures. Our role is simply to provide them with all the information they need to make that choice from a place of confidence rather than pressure."
Serviceplan
