Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Int Breastfeed J. 2021 Nov 8;16(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s13006-021-00433-w.
Dutch breastfeeding rates are below World Health Organization's recommendations and targets despite the benefits for individuals and society. Increasing the rates is complex due to multiple breastfeeding determinants, of which maternal education and employment are dominant. This study aimed to identify the perceptions and experiences of mothers employed at Dutch universities regarding barriers and enablers to workplace breastfeeding and pumping.
The study adopted a descriptive, qualitative research design. Thirteen semi-structured online interviews, underpinned by the Social Ecological Model, were conducted in 2020 with three experts and ten academic employees from five universities who had breastfed or pumped at work within the past five years. Qualitative data were examined through a thematic analysis.
Four main themes were identified: physical work environment, social support, work culture and organisation, policies and legal rights. Most mothers had more negative than positive experiences combining breastfeeding with work. They were unable to exercise their rights as a breastfeeding employee due to inappropriate and inaccessible lactation rooms, a lack of communication and information-provision, other people's lack of awareness, inflexible working hours and unadjusted workloads, especially for teaching positions. All participants found the duration of Dutch maternity leave too short.
Universities need to increase institutional efforts at multiple levels and meet their legal obligations to support breastfeeding employees. Workplace interventions should be combined with more political commitment to normalise breastfeeding, monitor compliance with maternity protection provisions at work and prolong parental leave to encourage breastfeeding continuation.
尽管母乳喂养对个人和社会都有好处，但荷兰的母乳喂养率仍低于世界卫生组织的建议和目标。由于母乳喂养的决定因素很多，其中母亲的教育和就业是主要因素，因此提高母乳喂养率的情况较为复杂。本研究旨在确定在荷兰大学工作的母亲对工作场所母乳喂养和吸乳的障碍和促进因素的看法和经验。
本研究采用描述性、定性研究设计。2020 年，我们对来自五所大学的三位专家和十位在过去五年内在工作中母乳喂养或吸乳过的学术员工进行了 13 次半结构式在线访谈，这些访谈以社会生态模型为基础。通过主题分析对定性数据进行了检查。
确定了四个主要主题：物理工作环境、社会支持、工作文化和组织、政策和法律权利。大多数母亲在将母乳喂养与工作结合起来时，体验更多的是负面的，而不是正面的。由于不适当和无法使用的哺乳室、缺乏沟通和信息提供、他人缺乏意识、工作时间不灵活和工作量未调整，尤其是对于教学岗位，她们无法行使作为母乳喂养员工的权利。所有参与者都认为荷兰产假的持续时间太短。
大学需要在多个层面上加大机构投入，并履行其支持母乳喂养员工的法律义务。工作场所干预措施应与更多的政治承诺相结合，以实现母乳喂养的正常化，监测工作中遵守产妇保护规定的情况，并延长育儿假以鼓励继续母乳喂养。
