Beth Olson

Research has shown lower breastfeeding rates in women working full time compared with those working part time or not employed. Limited research has shown the difficulties encountered by women seeking to combine breastfeeding and employment, but almost no research has been done to determine how the environment within companies influence women’s perceptions of the appropriateness of returning to work as a breastfeeding mother, or what components of that environment are most important in encouraging or discouraging a these new mother employees in attempts to combine breastfeeding and work. We have been funded by USDA to investigate this workplace environment. We have developed three instruments for this investigation: an assessment of new mother employees’ perceptions, a survey of company policies and practices on breastfeeding support, and an assessment of manager attitudes toward breastfeeding support. We recently used these three instruments in a sample of Michigan, Oregon and Washington companies to assess workplace climate, and the determinants and interactions among components of these climates as viewed by new mother employees in the companies.

Our laboratory has also done program evaluation to determine the best way to target breastfeeding support to low income women.

Extension nutrition education programs have not historically focused on nutrition education with infants, in part due to lack of training and curriculum on infant feeding. We have developed an education curriculum to improve infant feeding practices among low-income women in the first months of their infant’s life. We have used the curriculum in an infant feeding intervention in low income African American and Hispanic Women in Michigan and Colorado, through the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Programs (EFNEP) in both states. This work is necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of this curriculum in improving infant feeding practices. Taken together, our work in improving understanding of breastfeeding and breastfeeding support in low income and working women, and infant feeding practices up through the first year of life, will provide knowledge, tools and education needed for families to begin the feeding of their children in the most healthy way possible.