Paid Maternity Leave and Breastfeeding Outcomes

Mirkovic, Kelsey; Perrine, Cria G.; Scanlon, RD Kelley S.

doi:10.1111/birt.12230

Cited by 99 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…In the ELFE study, women who postponed their return to work until at least 15 weeks after the end of legal maternity leave were more likely to initiate breastfeeding. Likewise, in the ALSPAC study in the United Kingdom, the timing of a mother's return to work seemed of great importance, with higher breastfeeding initiation prevalence among those who did not return before 6 weeks post‐partum (Noble, ); in the U.S. National Survey of Family Growth, paid maternity leave for at least 12 weeks was associated with greater breastfeeding initiation (Mirkovic, Perrine, & Scanlon, ); in the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study (Hawkins et al, ), employed mothers who returned to work within the first 4 months post‐partum were less likely to initiate breastfeeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies specifically investigated the effect of paid maternity leave on breastfeeding duration. In the U.S. National Survey of Family Growth, paid maternity leave for at least 12 weeks was associated with greater breastfeeding prevalence at 6 months post‐partum (Mirkovic et al, ). In Canada, the length of paid maternity leave was extended from 6 months to 1 year in 2001.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maternity or parental leave and breastfeeding duration: Results from the ELFE cohort

Lauzon-Guillain

Thierry

Bois

et al. 2019

Maternal & Child Nutrition

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Previous studies have shown a high level of noncompliance with recommendations on breastfeeding duration, especially in France. The objective was to describe the association between breastfeeding initiation and duration and the statutory duration of postnatal maternity leave, the gap between the end of legal maternity leave and the mother's return to work, and maternal working time during the first year post‐partum. Analyses were based on 8,009 infants from the French nationwide ELFE cohort. We assessed the association with breastfeeding initiation by using logistic regression and, among breastfeeding women, with categories of breastfeeding duration by using multinomial logistic regression. Among primiparous women, both postponing return to work for at least 3 weeks after statutory postnatal maternity leave (as compared with returning to work at the end of the statutory period) and working less than full‐time at 1 year post‐partum (as compared with full‐time) were related to higher prevalence of breastfeeding initiation. Among women giving birth to their first or second child, postponing the return to work until at least 15 weeks was related to a higher prevalence of long breastfeeding duration (at least 6 months) as compared with intermediate duration (3 to <6 months). Working part‐time was also positively related to breastfeeding duration. Among women giving birth to their third child or more, working characteristics were less strongly related to breastfeeding duration. These results support extending maternity leave or working time arrangements to encourage initiation and longer duration of breastfeeding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternity or parental leave and breastfeeding duration: Results from the ELFE cohort

Lauzon-Guillain

Thierry

Bois

et al. 2019

Maternal & Child Nutrition

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“…Conversely in the UK, there is paid leave until 9 months, although it drops to a lower amount after 6 weeks. Many women, particularly if they are the main wage earner, return to work for financial reasons when they are still breastfeeding frequently and need to make a decision to stop, or express milk during their working day (94) . Concerns around inflexibility and balancing both can lead to mothers stopping before they return (95) .…”

Section: Maternity Leavementioning

confidence: 99%

Breastfeeding as a public health responsibility: a review of the evidence

Brown

2017

J Human Nutrition Diet

119

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Although individual support is important, breastfeeding must be considered a public health issue that requires investment at a societal level. Focusing solely on solving individual issues will not lead to the cultural changes needed to normalise breastfeeding. Countries that have adopted a multicomponent public heath strategy to increase breastfeeding levels have had significant success. These strategies must be emulated more widely.

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“…Studies on the duration of maternity leave have shown that maternity leave duration affects the ability of women to maintain breastfeeding after returning to work (Mirkovic, Perrine, & Scanlon, ). Thus, the target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for infants to be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and to continue up to 2 years or beyond is not easy to achieve (World Health Organization, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing of return to work and women's breastfeeding practices in urban Malaysia: A qualitative study

Sulaiman

Liamputtong

Amir

2017

Health Soc Care Community

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Nearly half of the working population in Malaysia are women, and with only a short period of maternity leave, they may struggle to achieve the recommended 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding. The aim of this paper was to explore the relationship between the timing of return to work and beliefs and breastfeeding practices among women in urban Malaysia. A qualitative inquiry based on a phenomenological framework and multiple methods was used: face-to-face interview, participant diary and researcher field notes. Data collection took place in Penang and the Klang Valley, Malaysia, from March to September 2011. Eligible participants were purposely identified at randomly selected recruitment sites. A thematic analysis method was used to develop the typologies and categories of the findings. A total of 40 working women with a mean age of 32 years (SD 3.4) were interviewed and 15 participated in the diary writing. Most women (75%) returned to work between 2 and 3 months. Only 10% returned to work 4 months or later postpartum, and 15% had an early return to work (defined here as less than 2 months). The women fell into three groups: Passionate women with a strong determination to breastfeed, who exclusively breastfed for 6 months; Ambivalent women, who commenced breastfeeding but were unable to sustain this after returning to work; and Equivalent women, who perceived formula feeding as equally nutritious as breast milk. Although longer maternity leave was very important for Ambivalent women to maintain breastfeeding, it was not as important for the Equivalent or Passionate women. In conclusion, returning earlier was not an absolute barrier to continuing breastfeeding. Instead, a woman's beliefs and perceptions of breastfeeding were more important than the timing of her return to work in determining her ability to maintain breastfeeding or breast milk feeding. K E Y W O R D Sbreastfeeding, duration, Malaysia, timing, women, working

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Paid Maternity Leave and Breastfeeding Outcomes

Abstract: Employed women who received 12 or more weeks of paid maternity leave were more likely to initiate breastfeeding and be breastfeeding their child at 6 months than those without paid leave.

Cited by 99 publications

References 15 publications

Maternity or parental leave and breastfeeding duration: Results from the ELFE cohort

Maternity or parental leave and breastfeeding duration: Results from the ELFE cohort

Breastfeeding as a public health responsibility: a review of the evidence

Timing of return to work and women's breastfeeding practices in urban Malaysia: A qualitative study

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