Employers' perception of breastfeeding practice of employed mothers: a qualitative study

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Abstract Background : The universal benefits of breastfeeding and human milk are demonstrated by different researches but despite the advantages only 37% of children are exclusively breastfed worldwide. Women employment is one way of ensuring women's empowerment but it is also one of the commonly mentioned factors contributing for the low prevalence of breastfeeding. Hence, there needs to be a conducive work environment that accommodates maternal needs not to fall back from empowerment and to improve breastfeeding practice. There are not many studies that focus on work environment in relation with employers’ experience and their perception of breastfeeding of employed mothers. Therefore this study aims to explore employers’ experience and perception of employed mothers’ breastfeeding experience in different working environments in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods : A descriptive Phenomenology strategy was employed in this study and purposive sampling technique was used to recruit study participants. Data was collected from 10 employers from private, governmental and non-governmental institutions through an in-depth interview. Thematic data analysis was performed where collected data was organized, coded and categorized into themes to give meaningful contributions to answering the research questions. Results : Understanding breastfeeding, current maternity leave, perception of breastfeeding supporting conditions and mother-friendly work environment were the themes generated after analysis. Almost all employers in this study recognized the importance of breastfeeding despite the different work environments they worked in and they also acknowledged the importance of making working environment mother-friendly for stability and motivation of employed mothers. Conclusions : Providing mothers with a friendly environment is understood as a positive thing by employers. The current maternity leave of three months has low acceptance and both onsite child care center and six-month maternity leave are believed to help in creating a mother-friendly work environment despite their pros and cons. Key words : Employer, Breastfeeding, Work environment, Mother-friendly, Employed mothers

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