Factors Associated with Breastfeeding Duration and Exclusivity in Mothers Returning to Paid Employment Postpartum

Abstract

Mothers who are employed postpartum are less likely to continue breastfeeding than mothers who are not formally employed. However, as postpartum employment is increasingly necessary for the majority of new mothers, it is important to investigate factors that influence the continuation of breastfeeding in employed mothers. A sample of 1,738 mothers who returned to paid employment postpartum were recruited from the obstetric units of four public hospitals in Hong Kong, and prospectively followed for 12 months or until their infant was weaned. More than 85 % of participants returned to formal employment within 10 weeks postpartum, with over 90 % of these employed full-time. About one-third of the participants (32 %) were able to combine breastfeeding and employment, with breastfeeding defined as continuing for more than 2 weeks after returning to work postpartum. Later return to work and higher maternal education were associated with new mothers being able to combine breastfeeding and employment. Later return to work, shorter working hours, parental childcare, and higher maternal education were also associated with less likelihood of weaning from any or exclusive breastfeeding. Improvements in employment-related conditions for mothers and additional support for lower educated mothers may be effective strategies to enable employed women to continue breastfeeding after their return to work.

Breastfeeding Continuation Among Late Preterm Infants: Barriers, Facilitators, and Any Association With NICU Admission?

“…[18][19][20][21][22] Higher maternal education has likewise been previously described as a predictor of a longer duration of breastfeeding. 22,23 Single mothers having lower rates of breastfeeding continuation has also been reported and may be due to lack of support, need for child care, or socioeconomic and/or racial confounding. 23 Additional research is needed to provide recommendations for evidence-based newborn care for late preterm infants.…”

“…22,23 Single mothers having lower rates of breastfeeding continuation has also been reported and may be due to lack of support, need for child care, or socioeconomic and/or racial confounding. 23 Additional research is needed to provide recommendations for evidence-based newborn care for late preterm infants. It remains unclear what the optimal length of stay should be (whether the infant is in the NICU or well-infant nursery) to optimize the establishment of breastfeeding and prevent unnecessary readmissions.…”

High education and increased parity are associated with breast-feeding initiation and duration among Australian women

“…Higher rates of breast-feeding have been found in Europe and Australia, compared with the USA and Canada (8) , which encourages us to consider the importance of social/political contexts in shaping features of the home, work and community environments that may support breast-feeding. This includes not returning to employment early (10,14) , parental leave policies and flexible working conditions (12) ; as well as social support, positive cultural norms surrounding breast-feeding and the Rural 1·19 0·99, 1·43 1·14 0·95, 1·37 0·97 0·80, 1·18 0·93 0·77, 1·14 0·77 0·57, 1·06 0·72 0·53, 1·00 Remote 0·93 0·74, 1·18 0·88 0·69, 1·12 0·99 0·79, 1·26 0·94 0·74, 1·20 0·93 0·65, 1·33 0·88 0·61, 0·88, 1·26 1·02 0·85, 1·23 1·16 0·96, 1·40 1·13 0·94, 1·36 1·36 1·01, 1·82 1·33 0·99, 1·79 Always difficult 1·16 0·91, 1·48 1·13 0·88, 1·45 1·14 0·88, 1·48 1·11 0·85, 1·44 1·34 0·91, 1·99 1·31 0·88, 1·95 SEIFA ed/occ quintile 0·92 0·87, 0·98 0·95 0·89, 1·01 0·95 0·89, 1·01 0·97 0·91, 1·03 1·05 0·95, 1·16 1·09 0·98, 1·21 OR1, minimally adjusted for baseline age and birth year of the index child; OR2, minimally adjusted + parent's education; SEIFA, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (education and occupation); Ref., reference category. Significant results are indicated in bold font.…”

“…Maternal attributes positively associated with breastfeeding initiation and duration include: higher maternal age (6,(8)(9)(10)(11) ; higher maternal education (6,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13) , although not in all studies (10) ; higher family income (8) ; being married (9,11) , although not in all studies (10) ; living with a partner (13) ; history of prior breast-feeding (13)(14)(15) ; and having a healthy pre-pregnancy BMI (16)(17)(18) . Higher parity has also been positively associated with breast-feeding initiation (11) and more frequently with breast-feeding duration (10,19,20) ; while difficulties with infant feeding in the first month postpartum are negatively associated with breast-feeding duration (10) .…”

Anneleri̇n Gözünden Ek Besi̇nlere Başlama Nedenleri̇ Ve Anneleri̇n Mamalar Hakkindaki̇ Düşünceleri̇

“…Çeşitli araştırmalarda annenin sigara içmesi, düşük doğum ağırlığı, annenin yaşının küçük olması, daha önce emzirmemiş olmak, annenin sütünün yetmediği algısı, annenin yorgun hissetmesi, iş hayatına geri dönülmesi anne sütü verme süresini olumsuz yönde etkileyen faktörlerdir. Babanın bu dönemde anneye yardımcı olması, annenin eğitim düzeyinin yüksek olması, daha önce bebek emzirmiş olmak ise bu süreyi olumlu yönde etkileyen faktörler olarak gösterilmiştir (10,11). Ülkemizde ilk besin olarak anne sütü verme alışkanlığı yaygın olmasına rağmen, bebek büyüdükçe pek çok anne bebeğine anne sütü ile birlikte başka besinler de vermeyi tercih etmektedir.…”