Working Moms and Breastfeeding
The number of hours a new mother works significantly affects her breastfeeding decisions, new study finds.
Video transcript:
How hard is it for mothers to continue breastfeeding when they return to work?
Pretty hard if they’re working more than part-time, according to a new study.
Researchers surveyed 2,300 mothers in Australia who were employed for at least 13 months before giving birth. They asked about their breastfeeding habits and when they returned to paid employment.
The number of hours a mother worked significantly affected the likelihood of maintaining breastfeeding.
Moms who returned to work within half-a-year and put in 20 or more hours per week were much less less likely to be nursing their baby at 6 months.
On the other hand, working 19 or fewer hours per week had little impact of breastfeeding decisions.
The authors say reduced hours of employment for new mothers may help keep breastfeeding rates up and they suggest policymakers provide incentives for employers to improve lactation support for women in workplaces.
I’m Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV…with the news doctors are reading – health news that matters to you.
