ABSTRACT
@# Introduction: The primary reason that compels working mothers to decrease their ability to continue to breastfeeding successfully is their return to work. Attempts to continue breastfeeding at work encounters several difficulties. This study aims to provide an overview of the workplace environment and how facilities at the workplace affect breastfeeding in Indonesia. Methods: We used a qualitative approach to provide a detailed picture of the influence of workplace support for working mothers to perform breastfeeding. We enrolled working mothers (n=18) in Jakarta, as participants and obtained the following information from them: parity, type of family and type of work. Results: The findings provided the general overview of the workplace environment and identified three factors that affected breastfeeding: seeking information during pregnancy, expression of breast milk at office facilities and the problem faced by working mothers. Conclusion: Although the breastfeeding performance of most working mothers in this study comprised exclusive breastfeeding, some fed their infants with formula milk. This study suggests that working mothers who continue to breastfeed after returning to work need the support of their employers, co-workers and others in the workplace to ensure the provision of health facilities and the protection and dissemination the rights of breastfeeding working mothers that might lead them to discontinue their breastfeeding practice.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: In first six months of life, breastfeeding is the recommended form of feeding by the World Health Organisation for the growing child. To enable the working mother to continue this noble practice, adequate workplace breastfeeding support and self- efficacy is needed.This study aims to determine the prevalence of breastfeeding among working mothers of children aged three months to two years and factors associated with breastfeeding practice including workplace support and mother’s self-efficacy. Method: This is a cross sectional questionnaire study carried out in a rural Health Clinic in Selangor using socio-demographic data, Workplace Breastfeeding Support Scale (WBSS), and the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BSES-SF). This study was conducted for a period of three months from April to June 2015. The respondents were employed Malaysian mothers of healthy infants aged three months to two years. A total of 84 participants were involved in the study. Data analysis was done with SPSS 22.Results: The prevalence of breastfeeding among working mothers were high at 97.6%. We found significant association of breastfeeding practice with workplace breastfeeding support (p=0.005) and self-efficacy (p= 0.017). We also noted a significant correlation between breastfeeding workplace support and breast feeding self-efficacy (r= 0.40, p <0.01). Age, religion, ethnicity, educational level and place of employment were found to be not associated with breastfeeding practices.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of workplace support and self-efficacy with workplace breastfeeding practices. Policymakers and stakeholders should provide a conducive and supportive environment to enhance breastfeeding among working mothers.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, workers have shown a tendency to suffer increasing amounts of stress, and over 60% claim to feel much anxiety towards their jobs. Problems of psychological health are having an increasing impact on workers, their families and their communities. Furthermore, regular health checks are uncovering health problems in more workers each year, indicating an urgent need for measures to promote psychological and physical health. The aim of our research was to assess current job-related lifestyle behaviors, eating behaviors and stress response and to examine the relationships between them. In August 2006, 980 employees from retail business Company A were given self-assessment surveys (response rate: 63.7%). Excluding those which were left mostly incomplete, a total of 624 usable responses were received and examined. Examination of the relationships between stress response and various lifestyle behaviors showed significant correlations of stress response with eating behavior, exercise and body image satisfaction. The variables that had high correlations with psychological stress responses were psychological workload, interpersonal relations at work, relationship with superiors, lifestyle satisfaction, cognitive restraint and emotional eating. On the other hand, the variables whose correlations with physical stress response were high were psychological workload, amount degree of skill use, lifestyle satisfaction, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating. Not only is there a need for behavior modification support to improve lifestyle behaviors, but assistance for increasing support from superiors in the workplace is also essential for stress management. In addition to the clear need for effective supervisor training, various long-term education and consultation programs for employees and their families should also be considered.