Redesign of Functional Kaba (Blouse) Apparel for Ghanaian Breastfeeding Mothers.

Kaba is considered to be a kind of traditional apparel worn by the women in
Ghana. Though, it’s worn to accentuate female modesty, chastity and eleg-
ance among the women folks. The modern day woman faces a lot of physical
and emotional challenges when it comes to breastfeeding. There is a need to
redesign and improve upon the
kaba apparel for breastfeeding purposes. This
study, therefore, sought to redesign functional
kaba apparel for breastfeeding
mothers. Based on the apparel design framework of Lamb and Kallal, design
requirements were identified from breastfeeding mothers and incorporated
into the designed apparel. Five prototype designs were made and tested by
three selected mothers towards effective breastfeeding. Findings revealed that
the prototype apparels made of fasteners and openings in the horizontal, di-
agonal and vertical directions with zippers and buttons were said to be suita-
ble, comfortable to use and hence acceptable for implementation. This added
functional part of the apparel boosted the comfort and confidence of the
mother without compromising on their expressive values