Hi. My name is Vanessa. I am a junior nursing student at the University
of North Dakota. This semester I am taking a childbearing/maternal health
class. I joined this listserv to gain a new experience and to learn more
about the current issues in breastfeeding.
My goal is to someday be an OB nurse, and breastfeeding is an area
that I have a special passion about. I have recently come to realize how
important it is for a breastfeeding mother to have her employers’ support
in order to have a successful breastfeeding experience. I have done some
research about this subject.
A study was done by Ortiz, McGilligan, and Kelly (2004) to explore
the success of breastfeeding in working mothers who are enrolled in an
employer-sponsored lactation program. These companies that employed the
mothers provided education, private rooms for pumping, electric pumps, and
insulated tote bags for the mothers. In this study, 97.5% of these
mothers left the hospital breastfeeding. At six months, 57.8% were still
breastfeeding, and at 1 year, 18.2% were (Ortiz, McGilligan, and Kelly).
Another study was done by Witters-Green (2003). This study
interviewed fourteen employers concerning their policies, attitudes, and
beliefs regarding breastfeeding by their employees. Of these fourteen
employers, none could name ways in which an employer/place of employment
would benefit from a mother continuing to breastfeed her child after
returning to work (Witters-Green, 2003). Also, none of these employment
sites had a policy about breastfeeding.
Brown, Poag, and Kasprzycki (2001) conducted an interview of large
and small employers regarding their attitudes and policies on
breastfeeding. In this study, ever participant recognized that breast
milk is higher quality than formula, yet none of these companies had a
breastfeeding policy. They simply handled the situations when they
presented themselves.
My biggest question is what is your experience with breastfeeding
policies in the workplace? Does your agency have a policy on
breastfeeding?
Thanks you,
Vanessa, SN
Brown, C., Poag, S., and Kasprzycki, C. (2001). J Hum Lact, 17(1), 39-46.
Ortiz, J., McGilligan, K., and Kelly, P. (2004). Duration of breast milk
expression among working mothers enrolled in an employer-
sponsored lactation program. Pediatric Nursing, 30(2), 111-119.
Witters-Green, R. (2003). Increasing breastfeeding rates in working
Mothers. Journal of Collaborative Family HealthCare, 21(4), 415-
433.
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