INSIGHT Study Maternal Return to Work and Infant Weight Outcomes.

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Maternal and Child Health

Background:

• Maternal return to work postpartum is common, but its impact on infant growth is not fully understood.
• Early return to work may influence infant feeding practices and overall development.
• Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern, necessitating research into early-life risk factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the timing of maternal return to work and rapid infant weight gain from 0 to 6 months.
• To examine the relationship between maternal return to work timing and infant weight-for-length at 1 year.
• To explore potential moderation by a responsive parenting intervention and mediation by breastmilk feeding.

Main Methods:

• Secondary data analysis of 279 mother-newborn dyads from a randomized controlled trial.
• Conditional weight gain (CWG) scores used to assess rapid infant weight gain (0-6 months).
• Infant weight-for-length calculated using World Health Organization standards; ANOVA used for statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• Approximately 50% of mothers (130/261) returned to work within 12 weeks postpartum.
• Infants of mothers returning to work within 12 weeks showed significantly greater CWG scores (P=.006) and were heavier at 1 year (P=.05).
• No significant moderation by study group or mediation by breastmilk feeding was observed.

Conclusions:

• Maternal return to work within 12 weeks is associated with increased rapid infant weight gain in early infancy.
• This early rapid weight gain may contribute to higher weight-for-length at one year.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations.