The experience of women who combine breastfeeding and employment / Susan Ellen Schewel.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Schewel, Susan Ellen.

Contributor:

Brown, Linda, advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Nursing.

Nursing--Penn dissertations.

Nursing.

Academic Dissertations as Topic.

Medical Subjects:

Nursing.

Academic Dissertations as Topic.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Nursing.

Nursing--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

x, 138 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

1997.

Summary:

The goal of this research was to describe the experience of women combining employment and breastfeeding. This combination requires the simultaneous yet mutually exclusive use of space and time. As well, breastfeeding by employed women embodies the contradiction inherent in carrying out gender-specific behaviors within the equality framework of the American workplace.

The research study provided a description of the experience of 12 women who returned to full-time employment within the first three postpartum months and used breast milk expression during the work day. The interface between work and family was the conceptual framework used to guide the research questions and naturalistic inquiry directed the research methodology. Most of the women were interviewed once during their maternity leave and twice after they had returned to work using a semistructured interview guide.

Constant comparison of the data revealed the participants' definitions, management strategies, and evaluations of the experience. In combining breastfeeding and employment, the women located their elasticity in their infant feeding method rather than their employment status. They found breastfeeding to be rewarding to them and their infants, but were aware of cultural proscriptions about breasts, infant feeding, and appropriate workplace behavior that were not supportive of breastfeeding. In managing milk expression during the work day, they struggled with finding space, organizing time, and negotiating invisibility as breastfeeding women. They engaged in behaviors in the workplace that are used typically by other stigmatized groups. Some described the combination of breastfeeding and employment to be only an acceptable compromise, while for others, it represented their ideal arrangement of work and parenting.

Suggestions for further research were offered. The conceptual framework of the interface between work and family was found to be useful. Research on the effectiveness of partial breastfeeding patterns in maintaining milk supply was advised. Study implications included the provision of formal and informal supports for breastfeeding employees in the workplace.

Notes:

Supervisor: Linda Brown.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Nursing) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1997.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 97-27293.

OCLC:

187470517