What Employers and Health Care Providers Can Do to Support Breastfeeding in the Workplace

摘要

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to support breastfeeding reaches out to businesses to provide support to working moms. The purpose of this study was to explore what employers of low-income, full-time working women perceived to be their role in workplace breastfeeding support and actions they believed they could take to support and promote breastfeeding. From these findings, potential implications for health care providers to advocate with employers to support breastfeeding emerged. Research was conducted within the framework of the Theory of Reasoned Action. Qualitative methodology was used through in-depth interviews with 6 owners/managers of businesses employing low-income workers. Thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts revealed 5 themes: (a) reliance on a case-by-case consideration of support for breastfeeding employees and the opinion that the costs of breastfeeding support outweighed the benefits, (b) expression of positive attitudes about workplace breastfeeding support coupled with an incongruent lack of formal action to support breastfeeding employees, (c) absence of intention to implement breastfeeding support programs despite expression of intention to support employees when requested, (d) perceived limitations related to business size, and (e) speculation about the extent of employer roles. Results imply the decision to provide workplace breastfeeding support is more complex than a basic measurement of attitude or cost–benefit analysis might suggest. Findings indicate advocacy efforts should capitalize on actions employers believe they can take now, expand employers’ perceptions of their role in supporting and communicating with breastfeeding employees, and provide employers with tools to make implementation of breastfeeding support programs achievable.