Employed Breastfeeding Mothers: Problems They Encounter

The results suggest that specific information about breastfeeding, encouragement in setting priorities, and involving the mother's partner and others in household and child care duties may reduce the level of stress of working mothers who breastfeed.

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A survey of 567 self‐selected respondents who breastfed while employed outside the home was conducted to assess the legitimacy of the assumption that breastfeeding and maternal employment combine poorly. Eighty‐six per cent of the respondents identified one or more difficulties, most of which were common to all parents. Breastfeeding problems were, with few exceptions, unrelated to employment. The respondents' most significant difficulty was role overload, a result of multiple demands to which they were responding. The results suggest that specific information about breastfeeding, encouragement in setting priorities, and involving the mother's partner and others in household and child care duties may reduce the level of stress of working mothers who breastfeed.