Maternal employment and breast-feeding: findings from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey.
C M Visness and
K I Kennedy
Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
OBJECTIVES: This analysis uses nationally representative datafrom the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey toexplore the factors, including employment, associated with breast-feedinginitiation and duration. METHODS: Multiple logistic regressionwas used to model the determinants of breast-feeding initiationamong 9087 US women. Multiple linear regression was used tomodel the duration of breast-feeding among women who breast-fed.RESULTS: Fifty-three percent of mothers initiated breast-feedingin 1988, and the decision to breast-feed was not associatedwith maternal employment. However, among breast-feeders, returningto work within a year of delivery was associated with a shorterduration of breast-feeding when other factors were controlled.Among employed mothers, the duration of maternity leave waspositively associated with the duration of breast-feeding. CONCLUSIONS:The low rates of breast-feeding initiation in the United Statesare not attributable to maternal participation in the laborforce. However, returning to work is associated with earlierweaning among women who breast-feed.
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