Status of Legislative Efforts to Promote and Protect Breastfeeding and the Provision of Human Milk for Women Returning to Work in the First Postpartum Year

Abstract

This research demonstrates a clear need for political action to increase the number of women who have workplace regulations to protect breastfeeding.

Awareness of Breastfeeding Laws and Provisions of Students and Employees of Institutions of Higher Learning in Georgia

“…Breastfeeding is considered optimal nutrition for infants (AAP, 2012; USDHHS, 2011a; WHO, 2015); therefore, it is important to encourage and support new mothers in initiating and continuing breastfeeding of their newborns. The majority of new mothers are employed outside of the home or in school, and it is essential that they have support to continue breastfeeding when returning to work or school (Froh et al, 2018; Wallenborn, Perera, Wheeler, Lu, & Masho, 2018; Wambach & Chambers, 2018). The desire to breastfeed and be successful may be dependent on the provisions at the work/school environment and resources available to them as mandated by federal and state laws.…”

Feeling Better, Doing Worse: “Mommy Wars” Infant Formula Advertising, Collective Action, and Breastfeeding Inequities

“…Collective action has been a major catalyst for changing public opinion about breastfeeding’s acceptability in the past decade, contributing to the growing success of breastfeeding promotion (Anstey et al, 2016). This has been especially crucial in the United States, which is particularly unfriendly for breastfeeding promotion: In this context, infant formula marketing is less regulated than other high-income contexts, access to paid parental leave following childbirth is very limited, employment protections for breastfeeding people are minimal, and typical durations of breastfeeding are well below World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines (Anstey et al, 2016; Danawi et al, 2016; Froh et al, 2018; Morris et al, 2019; Whipps et al, 2018).…”