About the research
Breastfeeding a child is often cited as a major health and nutritional benefit for children in their early years. As part of a larger doctoral research project on the development of children’s nutritional habits and child health from infancy to early years in Scotland, this researcher used longitudinal Scottish data to study the impact of employment and maternity leave on the length of time a mother will breastfeed. The study was particularly interested in the relationship between the duration of breastfeeding and the mother’s employment status and type.
The research found that mothers who did not work breastfed for longer. Amongst mothers who chose or needed to work, those who were self-employed were more likely to continue breastfeeding for longer than those who worked as employees. The research suggests that maternity leave is what mediates some of the negative relationship between being active in the labour market and breastfeeding duration.
Due to the benefits of breastfeeding on child nutrition and health, and the impact employment has on this, the research indicates that policies are needed aimed at facilitating prolonged breastfeeding amongst working mothers. Such policies could include more flexible working conditions, work-based crèches, and more generous maternity leave.
Methodology
Data from the first sweep of the survey was used to analyse breastfeeding using survival analysis (or Cox-Regression) models that used breastfeeding duration as the outcome variable and the predictor variables of maternal employment status and employment type at birth and total paid and unpaid maternity leave from work. Models were adjusted to control for maternal education, social class, ethnicity, age at time of birth of the sample child, family composition and birth order of the sample child.
Publications
Skafida, V. (2012) ‘Juggling work and motherhood: The impact of employment and maternity leave on breastfeeding duration: A survival analysis on Growing Up in Scotland data’, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(2), pp. 519-527. doi: 10.1007/s10995-011-0743-7