Ayton Jennifer, Pearson Sue, Graham Alison, Kitsos Gemma, Hansen Emily
College of Health and Medicine, Tasmanian School of Medicine University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Tasmanian Department of Health, Public Health Services, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Matern Child Nutr. 2025 Jan;21(1):e13761. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13761. Epub 2024 Nov 5.
This mixed-method study explored the experiences of mothers and fathers combining breastfeeding with returning to paid employment after childbirth. Tasmanian State Service employees participated in an online survey and phone interviews. A total of 130 parents completed the survey, and 42 participated in 60-min phone interviews. The survey had more female respondents (109) than male (21), and only 4 of the 42 interviews were with fathers. The sample consisted mainly of professional women (84%) and men (16%), predominantly Australian-born (88%). Two-thirds of participants worked part-time (62%), taking either unpaid (52%) or paid leave (61%) within the first 12 months after birth. The majority (88%) preferred to breastfeed, with the mean age of the first formula feed being 4.1 months. A narrative analysis of the qualitative data, informed by work-family conflict theory, reveals that transitioning back to paid work while breastfeeding is challenging for both mothers and fathers. Parents face multiple conflicts between paid work, family responsibilities and maintaining breastfeeding. The emotional and physical demands of feeding, expressing, storing and transporting breast milk, combined with often inadequate workplace facilities, policies and gender discrimination, add to parental pressure. Mothers bear the greatest burden, while fathers' roles and needs are often overlooked in the workplace. The major finding of this study is that breastfeeding is insufficiently recognised as an integral part of the return-to-work process for both parents, generating a form of work-family breastfeeding conflict, where work (part-time or full-time) interferes with family responsibilities and breastfeeding. Family-friendly breastfeeding policies based on equity principles are needed to address workplace gender inequality and discrimination and better support parents in combining work and breastfeeding.
这项混合方法研究探讨了产后母亲和父亲在母乳喂养的同时恢复有偿工作的经历。塔斯马尼亚州政府雇员参与了一项在线调查和电话访谈。共有130位家长完成了调查，42位参与了60分钟的电话访谈。调查中的女性受访者（109位）多于男性（21位），在42次访谈中只有4次是与父亲进行的。样本主要由职业女性（84%）和男性（16%）组成，他们大多出生在澳大利亚（88%）。三分之二的参与者从事兼职工作（62%），在产后的头12个月内休无薪假（52%）或带薪假（61%）。大多数人（88%）倾向于母乳喂养，首次使用配方奶喂养的平均年龄为4.1个月。基于工作-家庭冲突理论对定性数据进行的叙事分析表明，对于母亲和父亲来说，在母乳喂养的同时回归有偿工作都具有挑战性。家长们在有偿工作、家庭责任和维持母乳喂养之间面临多重冲突。喂养、挤奶、储存和运输母乳在情感和身体上的需求，再加上往往不足的工作场所设施、政策以及性别歧视，增加了家长的压力。母亲承担的负担最大，而父亲的角色和需求在工作场所常常被忽视。本研究的主要发现是，母乳喂养作为父母双方重返工作过程中不可或缺的一部分，没有得到充分认可，从而产生了一种工作-家庭母乳喂养冲突的形式，即工作（兼职或全职）干扰了家庭责任和母乳喂养。需要基于公平原则制定家庭友好型母乳喂养政策，以解决工作场所的性别不平等和歧视问题，并更好地支持家长兼顾工作和母乳喂养。
