Breast-feeding and the working mother: a profile

Based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of new mothers, this study compares the incidence and duration of breast-feeding among mothers who were employed full-time outside the home with those not employed. Results indicated that the same proportion of mothers (55%) who were employed f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPediatrics (Evanston) Vol. 83; no. 4; p. 524
Main Authors Ryan, A.S, Martinez, G.A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.04.1989
Subjects
Adult
ALLAITEMENT
Breast Feeding
DEMOGRAFIA
DEMOGRAPHIE
Educational Status
ENCUESTAS
ENQUETE
Ethnic Groups
ETHNICITE
Female
FEMME
GRUPOS ETNICOS
Humans
LACTACION
LACTANCIA
LACTATION
Maternal Age
MUJERES
Parity
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
Women
Women, Working
United States
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Summary:Based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of new mothers, this study compares the incidence and duration of breast-feeding among mothers who were employed full-time outside the home with those not employed. Results indicated that the same proportion of mothers (55%) who were employed full-time as those not employed reported breast-feeding their infants in the hospital. Working full-time seemed to have a substantial impact on breast-feeding duration. Only 10% of full-time employed mothers breast-fed their infants at 6 months of age compared with 24% of those not employed. Analyses of breast-feeding by demographic characteristics indicated that in-hospital breast-feeding was relatively high among mothers who were not working outside the home and who were 30 years of age and older, in high family income groups, college educated, white, and living in the Mountain or Pacific region of the United States. Breast-feeding patterns among white and black mothers showed that a relatively high incidence of in-hospital breast-feeding was reported by black mothers who returned to work full time. Many more blacks than whites who were working full time were in those demographic subgroups that reported the highest incidence of breast-feeding: mothers who were 25 years of age and older, in high-income groups, and college educated. Ways to increase the level of breast-feeding among employed mothers are outlined
Bibliography:S20
8911793
ISSN:0031-4005
1098-4275
DOI:10.1542/peds.83.4.524