Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management, University of Ghana Business School, P. O. Box 78, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Health Administration and Education, Faculty of Science Education, University of Education, Winneba, P.O Box 25, Winneba, Central Region, Ghana.
Int Breastfeed J. 2020 Jun 17;15(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s13006-020-00300-0.
Although substantial evidence exists on factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding, there is a general lack of qualitative studies that examine how specific workplace factors constrain or promote exclusive breastfeeding among working mothers. The current study therefore examines working mothers' experience of exclusive breastfeeding, laying emphasis on the influence of workplace factors on working mothers' decision to exclusively breastfeed their babies.
The study uses a qualitative research approach and a three-stage purposive sampling procedure to select 20 mothers from 10 organizations in five industries for in-depth interviews on their exclusive breastfeeding experience. Data collected from the interviews were analysed using content analysis, with two major themes emerging for discussion.
The results suggest that two major factors influence exclusive breastfeeding among working mothers: practice of exclusive breast feeding (knowledge and understanding of exclusive breastfeeding, and experience in exclusive breastfeeding) and workplace factors (length of maternity leave, closing time, absence of maternity policy in organizations, inadequate institutional support and family work-life balance).
The results of the study suggest that workplace factors play an equally crucial role in the decision by mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies. Thus, in the special case of working mothers where breastfeeding prevalence is low, the findings of this study can be crucial in evolving appropriate policies to support working mothers in their effort to exclusively breastfeed their babies.
尽管有大量证据表明影响纯母乳喂养的因素，但缺乏关于特定工作场所因素如何限制或促进工作母亲进行纯母乳喂养的定性研究。因此，本研究考察了工作母亲进行纯母乳喂养的体验，重点强调工作场所因素对工作母亲决定纯母乳喂养婴儿的影响。
本研究采用定性研究方法和三阶段目的性抽样程序，从五个行业的 10 个组织中选择了 20 名母亲进行深入访谈，了解她们进行纯母乳喂养的经验。从访谈中收集的数据采用内容分析法进行分析，出现了两个主要讨论主题。
研究结果表明，有两个主要因素影响工作母亲的纯母乳喂养：纯母乳喂养的实践（对纯母乳喂养的知识和理解，以及纯母乳喂养的经验）和工作场所因素（产假长度、下班时间、组织中缺乏产妇政策、机构支持不足以及家庭工作生活平衡）。
研究结果表明，工作场所因素在母亲决定纯母乳喂养婴儿方面同样起着至关重要的作用。因此，在母乳喂养率较低的工作母亲特殊情况下，本研究的结果对于制定支持工作母亲努力进行纯母乳喂养的适当政策至关重要。
