Department of Pediatrics, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia;
Departments of Pediatrics and.
Pediatrics. 2019 Aug;144(2). doi: 10.1542/peds.2018-3795. Epub 2019 Jul 22.
In 2016, the Department of Defense extended maternity leave from 6 to 12 weeks for active duty mothers to support breastfeeding initiation and duration. Limited data exist regarding the impact of prolonged maternity leave. Our objective was to evaluate the prolongation of maternity leave on the initiation and duration of breastfeeding in active duty mothers.
In this single-center retrospective cohort study, we used data collected from Department of Defense electronic health care records of infants born to active duty mothers who were delivered during calendar years 2014 and 2016. The primary outcomes were initiation and duration of breastfeeding and breastfeeding exclusivity evaluated throughout the first year of life. Secondary outcomes were differences in breastfeeding rates between military-branch affiliation and military rank.
No changes in breastfeeding initiation occurred between the 2 cohorts ( = 423 and 434). However, an increase in breastfeeding establishment was identified at the 2- (81.5% vs 72.4%; = .002), 4- (70.5% vs 56.7%; < .001), 6- (60.3% vs 46.5%; < .001), and 9-month (45.4% vs 34.9%; = .003) visits in the 12-week leave cohort. Exclusive breastfeeding increased at 2 (56.4% vs 47.2%; = .007), 4 (47.5% vs 36.4%; = .001), and 6 (37.3% vs 29.3%; = .016) months.
Increases in maternity leave correlated with increased breastfeeding duration and exclusivity through 9 months for active duty mothers. These data support the benefit of extended maternity leave in the military and the need for future studies to validate findings at other military treatment facilities.
2016 年，国防部将现役母亲的产假从 6 周延长至 12 周，以支持母乳喂养的开始和持续时间。关于延长产假的影响，相关数据有限。我们的目的是评估延长产假对现役母亲母乳喂养开始和持续时间的影响。
在这项单中心回顾性队列研究中，我们使用了 2014 年和 2016 年现役母亲分娩的婴儿的国防部电子医疗记录中收集的数据。主要结果是评估婴儿在生命的第一年中母乳喂养的开始和持续时间以及母乳喂养的专一性。次要结果是不同军种和军衔之间的母乳喂养率差异。
两个队列之间母乳喂养的开始率没有变化（分别为 423 例和 434 例）。然而，在 2 周（81.5% vs 72.4%； =.002）、4 周（70.5% vs 56.7%； <.001）、6 周（60.3% vs 46.5%； <.001）和 9 个月（45.4% vs 34.9%； =.003）访视时，12 周产假队列中的母乳喂养建立率增加。在 2 个月（56.4% vs 47.2%； =.007）、4 个月（47.5% vs 36.4%； =.001）和 6 个月（37.3% vs 29.3%； =.016）时，纯母乳喂养的比例增加。
产假的延长与现役母亲的母乳喂养时间和专一度的增加相关，在 9 个月时达到顶峰。这些数据支持在军队中延长产假的好处，需要进一步的研究来验证其他军事治疗设施的发现。
