RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding has both short- and long-term benefits for infants, mothers, the environment, healthcare costs, and wider society. In Saudi Arabia, breastfeeding has undergone a considerable decline in recent decades due to population changes and developing socioeconomic status. Limited research studies have explored the relationship between work and breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, most research has mentioned employment as the factor having the largest effect on breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence breastfeeding among working mothers in a tertiary hospital. METHODS: Using a phenomenological qualitative design, nine working women were recruited through purposive sampling at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Saudi Arabia in 2019. A semi-structured interview of 30-50 min was conducted with each participant. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Most women talked about the difficulties of combining breastfeeding with work, which resulted in the early discontinuance of breastfeeding before six months. The findings show that the key factors that affect breastfeeding include maternal attributes such as knowledge about breastfeeding, prenatal decisions, and mothers' conflicting priorities, as well as the availability of social and workplace support. These influenced whether working women in healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia were able to continue breastfeeding while employed. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of issues and problems faced by working mothers throughout postpartum. Inventive solutions need to be developed to facilitate breastfeeding in the work environment. This will give working women the option to breastfeed for a longer period to improve the health of both themselves and their babies. The availability of a private place and support from employers to utilise the institutional policy will enable working women to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.