Stewart-Glenn Jennifer
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA.
AAOHN J. 2008 Oct;56(10):423-9; quiz 430-1. doi: 10.3928/08910162-20081001-02.
Employer attitudes and practices toward breastfeeding mothers are discouraging overall. Mothers who believe that breastfeeding while employed cannot be done without a considerable amount of additional work and stress may not even consider breastfeeding. Although it is known that lower income women tend not to breastfeed while employed, the relationship between type of employment and sustaining breastfeeding has not been clearly explained. Many women identify employment as a barrier to breastfeeding. Some elements of a workplace environment supportive of breastfeeding have been identified, including private space with a locking door (other than a bathroom stall), time to express milk at work, and adequate refrigeration. In relation to employers, monetary reasons (i.e., decreased productivity) are most frequently cited for not supporting breastfeeding. Only a small percentage of the research on employed breastfeeding mothers has focused on the workplace. Further research is needed to determine how breastfeeding can be beneficial to the mother, the infant, and the employer.
雇主对哺乳期母亲的态度和做法总体上令人沮丧。那些认为在职时进行母乳喂养会带来大量额外工作和压力，甚至无法做到的母亲，可能根本不会考虑母乳喂养。尽管已知低收入女性在职时往往不进行母乳喂养，但就业类型与持续母乳喂养之间的关系尚未得到明确解释。许多女性认为就业是母乳喂养的障碍。已确定了一些有利于母乳喂养的工作场所环境要素，包括有锁门的私人空间（非卫生间隔间）、工作时挤奶的时间以及充足的冷藏设备。就雇主而言，不支持母乳喂养最常被提及的原因是经济方面（即生产力下降）。关于在职母乳喂养母亲的研究中，只有一小部分关注工作场所。需要进一步研究以确定母乳喂养如何能对母亲、婴儿和雇主都有益。
