Abstract
Many lactating mothers participate in the workforce and have their infants cared for outside of their home, yet little is known about their child care providers’ (CCPs’) support of breastfeeding. This study examines the association between CCPs’ breastfeeding support as reported by mothers at 3 months and mother’s breastfeeding at 6 months. Infant Feeding Practices Study II, a longitudinal study, followed mothers of infants via mail questionnaires almost monthly from late pregnancy throughout the first year. This study consisted of 183 mothers who breastfed and had their infant in child care at 3 months and answered 5 questions regarding CCPs’ supports. Total number of CCPs’ support was a summary of responses to individual items and categorized into 3 levels (0–2, 3–4, or 5 total supports). Multiple logistic regressions examined how each breastfeeding support and total number were associated with breastfeeding at 6 months. Breastfeeding at 6 months was significantly associated with CCP support to feed expressed breast milk (AOR = 4.55; 95 % CI = 1.09, 18.95) and allow mothers to breastfeed at the child care place before or after work (AOR = 6.23; 95 % CI = 1.33, 29.16). Compared to mothers who reported fewer than 3 total supports, mothers who reported 5 supports were 3 times as likely to be breastfeeding at 6 months (AOR = 3.00, 95 % CI = 1.11, 8.13). Our findings suggest that CCPs’ breastfeeding support at 3 months, particularly feeding expressed breast milk and allowing mothers to breastfeed before or after work, may help mothers maintain breastfeeding at 6 months.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Breastfeeding report card—United States, 2011. Accessed November 4, 2011, at http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2011BreastfeedingReportCard.pdf.
Gartner, L. M., Morton, J., Lawrence, R. A., Naylor, A. J., O’Hare, D., Schanler, R. J., et al. (2005). Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics, 115(2), 496–506.
Harder, T., Bergmann, R., Kallischnigg, G., & Plagemann, A. (2005). Duration of breastfeeding and risk of overweight: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Epidemiol, 162(5), 397–403.
Ip, S., Chung, M., Raman, G., Chew, P., Magula, N., DeVine, D., et al. (2007). Breastfeeding and maternal and infant health outcomes in developed countries. Evidence Reports Technology Assessments (Full Report), 153, 1–186.
Ryan, A. S., Zhou, W., & Arensberg, M. B. (2006). The effect of employment status on breastfeeding in the United States. Womens Health Issues, 16(5), 243–251.
Ogbuanu, C., Glover, S., Probst, J., Liu, J., & Hussey, J. (2011). The effect of maternity leave length and time of return to work on breastfeeding. Pediatrics, 126(6), e1414–e1427.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011). Table 6. Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child and marital status, 2009–10 annual averages. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/famee.t06.htm. Accessed 20 July 2011.
Johnston, M. L., & Esposito, N. (2007). Barriers and facilitators for breastfeeding among working women in the United States. Journal of Obstetric Gynecology Neonatal Nursing, 36(1), 9–20.
Laughlin, L. (2010). Who’s minding the kids? Child care arrangements: Spring 2005/Summer 2006. Current Population Reports, 70–121. http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p70-121.pdf. Accessed 4 Nov 2011.
Li, R., Darling, N., Maurice, E., Barker, L., & Grummer-Strawn, L. M. (2005). Breastfeeding rates in the United States by characteristics of the child, mother, or family: The 2002 National Immunization Survey. Pediatrics, 115(1), e31–e37.
Benjamin, S. E., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Taveras, E. M., Haines, J., Finkelstein, J., Kleinman, K., et al. (2009). Early child care and adiposity at ages 1 and 3 years. Pediatrics, 124(2), 555–562.
Kim, J., & Peterson, K. E. (2008). Association of infant child care with infant feeding practices and weight gain among US infants. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 162(7), 627–633.
Fein, S. B., Grummer-Strawn, L. M., & Raju, T. N. (2008). Infant feeding and care practices in the United States: results from the infant feeding practices study II. Pediatrics, 122(Suppl 2), S25–S27.
Fein, S. B., Labiner-Wolfe, J., Shealy, K. R., Li, R., Chen, J., & Grummer-Strawn, L. M. (2008). Infant feeding practices study II: Study methods. Pediatrics, 122(Suppl 2), S28–S35.
Thulier, D., & Mercer, J. (2009). Variables associated with breastfeeding duration. Journal of Obstetric Gynecology Neonatal Nursing, 38(3), 259–268.
Fein, S. B., Mandal, B., & Roe, B. E. (2008). Success of strategies for combining employment and breastfeeding. Pediatrics, 122(Suppl 2), S56–S62.
Bai, Y. K., Middlestadt, S. E., Joanne Peng, C. Y., & Fly, A. D. (2009). Psychosocial factors underlying the mother’s decision to continue exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months: An elicitation study. Journal of Human Nutrition Diet, 22(2), 134–140.
Li, R., Fein, S. B., & Grummer-Strawn, L. M. (2010). Do infants fed from bottle lack self-regulation of milk intake compared with directly breastfed infants? Pediatrics, 125(6), e1386–e1393.
Internal Revenue Service (2012). Part IV—items of general interest. lactation expenses as medical expenses, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/a-11-14.pdf. Accessed 14 Mar 2012.
United States Department of Labor. Wage and Hour Division. (2010). Fact Sheet #73: Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs73.htm. Accessed 14 Mar 2012.
American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. (2010). Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education: Selected Standards from Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; guidelines for early care and education programs, 3rd Edition. http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/PDFVersion/preventing_obesity.pdf. Accessed 4 Nov 2011.
The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding. (2011). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/breastfeeding/calltoactiontosupportbreastfeeding.pdf. Accessed 20 July 2011.
Brown, C. A., Poag, S., & Kasprzycki, C. (2001). Exploring large employers’ and small employers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on breastfeeding support in the workplace. Journal of Human Lactation, 17(1), 39–46.
Lindberg, L. (1996). Trends in the relationship between breastfeeding and postpartum employment in the United States. Social Biology, 43(3–4), 191–202.
Clark, A., Anderson, J., Adams, E., & Baker, S. (2008). Assessing the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and training needs related to infant feeding, specifically breastfeeding, of child care providers. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 12(1), 128–135.
Witters-Green, R. (2003). Increasing breastfeeding rates in working mothers. Families System Health, 21(4), 415–434.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Batan, M., Li, R. & Scanlon, K. Association of Child Care Providers Breastfeeding Support with Breastfeeding Duration at 6 Months. Matern Child Health J 17, 708–713 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-012-1050-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-012-1050-7