Karen Gromada posted a link to an article which poses this question,
presented at a conference in the US.  The premises for the article are also
very much of relevance in the US but not so much in most other developed
countries nor in many developing ones.  The underlying assumption is that it
will be up to the mother to bear the burden of staying away from her job
longer if she breastfeeds, thus incurring significant costs.  This
assumption does not hold in areas with universal paid maternity leave, which
includes just about everywhere in the world except my very own USA.
The authors seem to be somewhat aware of it when they write: "Should
breastfeeding be shown to have a negative impact on work outcomes, our study
will provide evidence that breastfeeding promotion needs to be coupled with
protections for women's work and earnings."
Hear, hear!  Even though their awareness seems only to extend as far as
Canada, which they mention in connection with the paid maternity leave
available there.  They also seem not to be aware that the International
Labor Organization has a position supporting paid breastfeeding breaks for
women who resume outside employment before their children are weaned and
that a number of countries do offer this already.
The article is not written as a promotional piece about breastfeeding.  From
page 14: 'Nevertheless, the focus of this study is to compare the employment
outcomes of women who breastfeed with women who do not, without making
normative evaluations about what women should or should not be doing with
respect to family and work responsibilities.'
Hear, hear again!

Rachel Myr
Spoiled rotten after living in Norway for 25 years, where there is paid
maternity and breastfeeding leave, but still carrying a US passport

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