Does extending the duration of legislated paid maternity leave improve breastfeeding practices? Evidence from 38 low-income and middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Among all barriers to breastfeeding, the need to work has been cited as one of the top reasons for not breastfeeding overall and for early weaning among mothers who seek to breastfeed. We aimed to examine whether extending the duration of paid maternity leave available to new mothers affected early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding under 6  months and breastfeeding duration in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods

We merged longitudinal data measuring national maternity leave policies with information on breastfeeding related to 992 419 live births occurring between 1996 and 2014 in 38 LMICs that participated in the Demographic and Health Surveys. We used a difference-in-differences approach to compare changes in the prevalen

SUBMITTER: Chai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6195155 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature