Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Good For Baby, Good For Mom: The Determinants Of Breastfeeding Initiation And Continuation Among Working Women In The Midwest U.S., Qingyu Jiang, Holly Hatton-Bowers, Julie A. Tippens, Soo-Young Hong, Kara Kohel

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Various factors support or hinder women’s decision to initiate and continue breastfeeding, particularly among working women. Currently, limited literature investigates breastfeeding experiences among working women across time. The purpose of this study was to gain nuanced insight into working women’s breastfeeding experiences during the first year of their infant’s life. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with working women residing in a Midwestern state (N = 25) across two time points (when infants were 3-4 months and 9-12 months). Results showed that twenty-one working women initiated and continued breastfeeding when their infants were 3-4 months old, and 14 women in the …