Desmond Deirdre, Meaney Sarah
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Int Breastfeed J. 2016 Jun 10;11:16. doi: 10.1186/s13006-016-0075-8. eCollection 2016.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that mothers exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of an infant's life. In Ireland, currently paid maternity leave is 26 weeks and the expectant mother is required by law to finish work 2 weeks before her expected delivery date. Mothers wishing to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months or longer find themselves having to take holiday leave or unpaid leave from work in order to meet the WHO's guidelines. The aim of this study is to explore women's experiences of breastfeeding after their return to work in Ireland.
This study was carried out utilizing a qualitative design. Initially 25 women who returned to the workforce while continuing to breastfeed were contacted, 16 women returned consent forms and were subsequently contacted to take part in an interview. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was employed to establish recurring patterns and themes throughout the interviews.
Women noted that cultural attitudes in Ireland coupled with inadequate or inconsistent advice from health professionals posed the biggest challenge they had to overcome in order to achieve to 6 months exclusive breastfeeding. The findings of this study illustrate that mothers with the desire to continue to breastfeed after their return to work did so with some difficulty. Many did not disclose to their employers that they were breastfeeding and did not make enquiries about being facilitated to continue to breastfeed after their return to the workplace. The perceived lack of support from their employers as well as embarrassment about their breastfeeding status meant many women concealed that they were breastfeeding after their return to the workplace.
While it has been suggested that WHO guidelines for exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months may be unattainable for many women due to work commitments, a different problem exists in Ireland. Mothers struggle to overcome cultural and societal obstacles coupled with inadequate support from health professionals. Encouraging and facilitating women to continue to breastfeed after they return to work will help to normalise breastfeeding within Irish culture and promote continued breastfeeding as a viable option for working mothers.
世界卫生组织（WHO）建议母亲在婴儿出生后的前6个月进行纯母乳喂养。在爱尔兰，目前的带薪产假为26周，并且法律要求准妈妈在预产期前2周停止工作。希望纯母乳喂养6个月或更长时间的母亲发现，为了符合世界卫生组织的指导方针，她们不得不休年假或无薪假。本研究的目的是探讨爱尔兰女性重返工作岗位后进行母乳喂养的经历。
本研究采用定性设计。最初联系了25名在继续母乳喂养的同时重返工作岗位的女性，16名女性返回了同意书，随后被联系参加访谈。访谈进行了录音并逐字转录，采用主题分析法来确定访谈中反复出现的模式和主题。
女性指出，爱尔兰的文化观念以及健康专业人员提供的建议不足或不一致，是她们为实现6个月纯母乳喂养必须克服的最大挑战。本研究的结果表明，希望重返工作岗位后继续母乳喂养的母亲们这样做存在一些困难。许多人没有向雇主透露自己正在母乳喂养，也没有询问重返工作岗位后是否能得到便利继续母乳喂养。她们感觉雇主缺乏支持以及对自己的母乳喂养状况感到尴尬，这意味着许多女性在重返工作岗位后隐瞒了自己正在母乳喂养的事实。
虽然有人认为，由于工作原因，许多女性可能无法达到世界卫生组织关于6个月纯母乳喂养的指导方针，但爱尔兰存在另一个问题。母亲们努力克服文化和社会障碍，同时健康专业人员的支持也不足。鼓励并便利女性在重返工作岗位后继续母乳喂养，将有助于使母乳喂养在爱尔兰文化中常态化，并促进母乳喂养成为职业母亲的可行选择。
