BackgroundIn recent years, the creation of supportive environments for encouraging mothers to breastfeed their children has emerged as a key health issue for women and children. The provision of lactation rooms and breast pumping breaks have helped mothers to continue breastfeeding after returning to work, but their effectiveness is uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of worksite breastfeeding-friendly policies and work-related factors on the behaviour of working mothers.MethodsThis study was conducted at a large Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer in August-September 2003. Questionnaires were used to collect data on female employees' breastfeeding behaviour, child rearing and work status when raising their most recently born child. A total of 998 valid questionnaires were collected, giving a response rate of 75.3%.ResultsThe results showed that 66.9% of survey respondents breastfed initially during their maternity leave, which averaged 56 days. Despite the provision of lactation rooms and breast pumping breaks, only 10.6% mothers continued to breastfeed after returning to work, primarily office workers and those who were aware of their company's breastfeeding-friendly policies.ConclusionIn conclusion, breastfeeding-friendly policies can significantly affect breastfeeding behaviour. However, an unfavourable working environment, especially for fab workers, can make it difficult to implement breastfeeding measures. With health professionals emphasizing that the importance of breastfeeding for infant health, and as only females can perform lactation, it is vital that women's work "productive role" and family "reproductive role" be respected and accommodated by society.

The objective of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of felodipine (CAS 72509-76-3) in healthy male Taiwanese subjects. This is a retrospective review of five felodipine pharmacokinetic studies completed in Taiwan. A total of 100 evaluable healthy Taiwanese males were enrolled in these studies. The subjects received 5 mg (n = 80) or 10 mg (n = 20) of Plendil? (felodipine extended-release tablets; felodipine ER) once daily for 6 days. The mean ? SD tmax, ss, Cmax, ss and AUC? of dose normalized to 10 mg felodipine was 3.32 ? 1.33 h, 13.12 ? 5.34 nmol/L and 136.33 ? 63.18 nmol ? h/L, respectively. By using Kolmogorov-Smirnov?s test and probit plots, the results indicated that the frequency distribution of AUC/dose, Cmin/ dose and CL/F was bimodal. Compared to data from the literature, the mean Cmax, ss and AUC? of 5 mg felodipine in healthy young Taiwanese subjects were similar to or slightly lower than data from Swedish, Danish, Turkish and Canadian studies in healthy young subjects who received 10 mg felodipine. Comparable Cmax values and approximately 30% lower AUC values were observed when comparing the 5 mg Taiwanese data to data in healthy elderly German subjects who also received 5 mg felodipine. Taiwanese subjects might have lower CYP3A4 activity to metabolize felodipine, which is similar to the phenomenon observed with nifedipine.