Nairobi, March 27 -- When Violet Ng'endo, a mother of two, returned to work after taking her three-month-maternity leave, she found herself overwhelmed, overworked and battling against postpartum depression.

She says that she took her leave in the last month of her third trimester because she was heavily pregnant and could not work well.

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"The hospital visits were frequent," she remembers.

"My feet were so swollen that I had to wear slippers to work, and bending was a struggle."

Despite working in customer service, she found herself doing a lot of fieldwork. She often had to rely on the assistance of clients, as she could only walk short distances before needing to rest....