Balancing work and family: effect of employment characteristics on breastfeeding

Chinelo Ogbuanu1, Saundra Glover, Janice Probst

  • 1Georgia Department of Community Health, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. chogbuanu@dhr.state.ga.us

This article describes an investigation of the effect of postpartum employment and occupational type on breastfeeding initiation and duration. Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Postpartum employment status was classified as full-time, part-time, and not employed. Among postpartum workers, occupational type was classified as management, professional, service, sales, administrative, and "other." In adjusted analysis, professional women had a 20% greater likelihood of initiating breastfeeding than administrative workers (risk ratio [RR] 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.30). Full-time workers had a 10% lower likelihood of initiating breastfeeding than those not employed (RR 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82-0.97). Among breastfeeding initiators, full-time workers had a 19% lower likelihood of any breastfeeding beyond 6 months than those not employed (RR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.65-0.99). To improve breastfeeding initiation and duration in the United States, part-time options may be an effective solution for working mothers.

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