Lactation and Work: Managers’ Support for Breastfeeding Enhance Vertical Trust and Organizational Identification

Abstract

Background: In working women, there are barriers when combining the mother and work role, especially during the breastfeeding period. Recent literature shows that improving organizational support increases trust performance via different domains (i.e., organizational identification) and that improving support for breastfeeding increases lactation rates and duration. Breastfeeding support in the workplace is one component that contributes to a mother's ability to continue to breastfeed once she has returned to work. This is a Human Resource Management practice that facilitates a work-life balance. Working mothers have, at least, two roles: mother and worker and, when mothers return to work, they have to manage both identities. Is lactation a way to keep both identities connected? Is organizational support of breastfeeding a way to improve organizational identification? The aim of this paper is to analyze a hierarchical model to explain how managers and co-worker support to breastfeeding predict trust and organizational identity in a sample of Spanish working mothers (N = 1,028). Materials and Methods: To analyze the indirect effect, it was tested using a mediation model with PROCESS in two random samples and carried out structural equation modeling to confirm structural relationship in the proposed model. Results: Outcomes reveal effects of managers' support to lactation and vertical trust in organizational identity but not in co-worker path. Conclusion: The findings suggest the manager's role in maintaining trust from working women and create and maintenance organizational identification.

Working mothers’ breastfeeding experience: a phenomenology qualitative approach

“…Employer support was also significant, especially in providing facilities for working mothers to express and store their breast milk [ 2 , 26 ]. Many studies have shown that the practice of breastfeeding declines once the mothers return to work [ 4 , 26 – 29 ]. In Malaysia there is no formal breastfeeding break allocated for mothers during working hours.…”

Breastfeeding frequency of primary healthcare professionals and effective factors

“…In contrast, in other studies involving other professional groups, the data indicated that coworker/supervisor support was not related to breastfeeding duration. 26,27 The question of whether the importance of breastfeeding support for healthcare professionals differs from other professions can be investigated in future comparative studies.…”

A behavioral economic demand analysis of mothers' decision to exclusively breastfeed in the workplace

“…That is, data such as these can provide an empirical basis for determining a potentially desirable distance to the lactation room, which can be brought into a larger and more nuanced policy-level discussion (Hursh & Roma, 2013). In addition, beyond its salutary effects on breastfeeding, providing an easily accessible lactation room may be viewed by working mothers as contributing to a supportive breastfeeding environment which in itself may serve to increase breastfeeding (Gabriel et al, 2020;Hilliard, 2017;Spitzmueller et al, 2016Spitzmueller et al, , 2018, and is related to organizationally important outcomes including trust, organizational identity, affect, and work-family balance satisfaction (Gabriel et al, 2020;Lisbona et al, 2020).…”