Adherence to exclusive breastfeeding practices among career women in Metro Manila

• Main Author: Llobrera, Mary Ruth S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Breastfeeding; Women executives; Maternal health services; Children—Health and hygiene; Medicine and Health Sciences
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_behsc/1; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=etdm_behsc
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study determines and describes the level of exclusive breastfeeding practices among career women within Metro Manila. It assesses the relation of personal characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes towards breastfeeding and social support with their level of exclusive breastfeeding practices—additionally, the relationship of their level of exclusive breastfeeding practices with the mother and child health outcomes. Data were obtained from 60 mothers currently employed within Metro Manila through non-probability, purposive, and snowball sampling techniques. The result shows that the career women mean age was 27 years old, had at least one child, had either undergraduate or postgraduate degree, mostly gave birth in the hospital in natural assisted delivery. Almost half of them are professionals, followed by services and sales workers, clerical support workers, managers, technicians and associate professionals, and elementary occupations. The average length in the workforce was 64 months, and more than half have flexible work arrangements. The average monthly compensation was twenty-three thousand three hundred twelve pesos. They have an average of 75 days of maternity leave, and the majority of them had lactation stations and lactation breaks in their workplace. Most of them have good breastfeeding knowledge but a fair attitude towards exclusive breastfeeding. All of them have high social support. In terms of exclusive breastfeeding practices, the standard modalities of exclusive breastfeeding career women practice were through breasts only, pumps only, and both breasts and pumps. The mean duration of exclusive breastfeeding was at 5.48 months, wherein the shortest period was one month while the longest was more than six months. Statistical tests reveal a significant relationship between personal characteristics (work-related characteristics), breastfeeding knowledge, and social support to the level of exclusive breastfeeding practices of career women. Additionally, exclusive breastfeeding practices are also significantly related to maternal physical and mental health and the mother and child bond. For the child health outcome, only sick days consultation, current weight and height, and child hospitalization have a significant relationship in exclusive breastfeeding practices. Thus, the study concludes that work-related characteristics, breastfeeding knowledge, and social support influences the level of exclusive breastfeeding practices of career women. Moreover, the level of exclusive breastfeeding practices has a significant relationship with maternal and child health outcomes.