Experiences of breast feeding at work for physicians, residents and medical students: a scoping review

Perceptions of Lactation Experience Among Neurology Faculty and Impact of Lactation Time on Academic Achievement at U.S. Academic Medical Centers

Objective: To investigate the perceptions of lactation experiences of neurology faculty and the impact of lactation time on academic achievement. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study utilizing a survey administered across 19 academic neurology centers in the United States. Respondents self-identified as having children and answered questions about lactation at work. Demographic information; academic achievement including publications, guest speakerships, awards, leadership roles, and funding; and perception of lactation experience were analyzed. Results: Among 162 respondents, 83% took lactation time at work. Thirty-seven percent reported lack of employer support for lactation, 46% were dissatisfied with their lactation experience, 59% did not receive compensation for lactation time, 62% did not have blocked clinical time, 73% reported relative value units were not adjusted to accommodate lactation, and 43% reported lack of access to private lactation space. Women spent on average 9.5 months lactating per child and desired 2.4 further months of lactation. There was no difference in all measures of self-reported academic achievement between women who did and did not take lactation time when measured across all career stages. Conclusions: Although a majority of respondents took lactation time at work, perceptions of employer support for lactation were low, and expectations for work productivity were not adjusted to accommodate lactation time. Taking lactation time at work did not decrease self-reported academic achievement. System-level best practices designed to support lactating faculty should be developed to guide academic institutions.

Nourishing two hearts: The journey of nursing student mothers during academic studies and clinical rotations: A qualitative study

AIM

To explore and understand breastfeeding experiences and challenges among student mothers who breastfeed during their academic studies and clinical rotations in nursing school.

BACKGROUND

Breastfeeding is recommended for the nourishment of infants. An increasing number of students combine parenthood and higher education, including student mothers who give birth while pursuing their degrees. Nursing students confront a dual challenge. In addition to the rigorous demands of theoretical academic coursework they must also contend with clinical rotations. There is limited literature regarding the experiences of nursing students who breastfeed during their studies and even more limited literature regarding their experiences during clinical rotations.

DESIGN

A qualitative design using a constructionist framework for thematic analysis.

METHODS

Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted between June 2023 and September 2023 and were analyzed using a thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified, which describe the experiences of nursing student mothers during their academic studies and clinical rotations: The importance of breastfeeding for baby's health and emotional connection; Breastfeeding and pumping during academic studies and clinical rotations requires the students to juggle between the various tasks; Dealing with privacy and modesty during breastfeeding in public on campus and in clinical settings; and Attitudes from academic educators, clinical instructors and classmates that foster, support, or impede the integration of breastfeeding during nursing studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Creating a supportive atmosphere for breastfeeding students necessitates a comprehensive strategy from academic institutions and hospital nursing administration.

Barriers to Breastfeeding During Surgery Residency

OBJECTIVE

Breastfeeding is a highly demanding experience, especially for surgical residents who pump after returning to work. We believe that there are obstacles to pumping and opportunities exist to improve support for this group. The objective of this study was to understand the experience of breastfeeding surgery residents and find opportunities for increased support.

DESIGN

Surveys were sent out through the Association of Program Directors in Surgery for distribution among current residents. A survey was also conducted in a private group of surgeon mothers to identify those who had previously been breastfeeding during residency.

SETTING

All surveys were performed online with results collected in a REDCap web-based application.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were those who gave birth during their surgical residency.

RESULTS

67% of the 246 survey respondents stated that they did not have adequate time for pumping and 56% rarely had access to a lactation room. 69% of mothers reported a reduction in milk supply and 64% stated that the time constraints of residency shortened the total duration they breastfed. 59% of women did not feel comfortable asking to pump.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical residents reported a lack of space, resources, and dedicated time for pumping. These deficiencies contribute to shorter breastfeeding duration. It is crucial to provide lactation rooms and to foster a supportive culture.

Exploring workplace barriers faced by breastfeeding mothers who are PAs

OBJECTIVES

To explore physician associate/assistant (PA) mothers' breastfeeding intention, duration, as well as workplace barriers for breastfeeding among working PA mothers and to determine if specialty has an effect on breastfeeding duration.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey was administered to PA mothers who had at least one biological child while a PA student or practicing as a PA. Study participants were recruited through the American Academy of Physician Associates' special interest group, PA Moms.

RESULTS

The 545 participants reported a breastfeeding goal of 12 months in 76.8% of births. Breastfeeding rates among participants were 96.3% at birth, 83.8% at age 3 months, 78.1% at age 6 months, and 54.8% at age 12 months. Exclusive breastfeeding rates were 77.9% at birth, 75% at age 3 months, and 42.6% at age 6 months. Workplace support from colleagues and support staff was associated with longer exclusive breastfeeding duration and any breastfeeding duration. Adequate time and place for expression of breastmilk and support from supervising or collaborating physicians were associated with longer duration of breastfeeding. Specialty had a statistically significant effect on exclusive breastfeeding duration.

CONCLUSIONS

PA mothers failed to meet their breastfeeding goals, despite high initiation rates. Dedicated time and space to express breastmilk and workplace support may significantly improve PA mothers' breastfeeding duration.

Supporting Breastfeeding Physicians Across the Educational and Professional Continuum: A Call to Action

The benefits of breastmilk and lactation are well established for both infants and women. National organizations recommend exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding for the first 1-2 years of life. For physicians, childbearing years often coincide with key periods of training and their early career. Physician mothers have high rates of initiating breastfeeding but low success in maintaining breastfeeding. Breastfeeding discontinuation among physicians is a well-described, multifactorial issue that has persisted for decades. Reasons for discontinuation include inadequate access to pumping rooms, insufficient workplace and coworker support, and constrained schedules. Pumping is viewed as a burden to teammates and superiors, and physicians are often required to make up time spent pumping. Vague or absent policies to support breastfeeding by accreditation organizations and institutions create workplace conflict and impose additional stress on breastfeeding physicians, who devote significant time, energy, and mental reserves navigating clinical responsibilities, workplace relationships, and licensing requirements to pump. The authors propose several recommendations to improve the environment, support, and resources for breastfeeding physicians with a focus on what individuals, institutions, and professional organizations can do. Creating lactation policies that allow breastfeeding physicians equitable participation in the workplace is a matter of reproductive justice. Improving the collective awareness and support for breastfeeding trainees and physicians is a critical step in recruiting, retaining, and supporting women in medicine.

How midwives and nurses experience implementing ten steps to successful breastfeeding: a qualitative case study in an Indonesian maternity care facility

BACKGROUND

The in-hospital stay following childbirth is a critical time for education and support of new mothers to establish breastfeeding. The WHO/UNICEF 'Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (Ten Steps)' was launched globally in 1989 to encourage maternity services to educate and support mothers to breastfeed. The strategy is effective, however its uptake within health systems and facilities has been disappointing. We aimed to understand midwives' and nurses' experiences of implementing the Ten Steps in an Indonesian hospital.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted in an Indonesian hospital which has been implementing the Ten Steps since the hospital's establishment in 2012. Fourteen midwives and nurses participated in a focus group in January 2020. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

We identified five themes that represented midwives' and nurses' experiences of implementing the Ten Steps in this Indonesian maternity unit: 1) Human rights of child and mother, 2) Dependency on precarious leadership, 3) Lack of budget prioritization, 4) Fragmented and inconsistent implementation of the Ten Steps across the health system, and 5) Negotiating with family, community and culture. The results highlighted a dependency on local hospital champions and a lack of budget prioritization as barriers to implementation, as well as health system gaps which prevented the enablement of mothers and families to establish and maintain breastfeeding successfully in Indonesian maternity services.

CONCLUSIONS

As Indonesia has one of the largest populations in South East Asia, it is an important market for infant milk formula, and health services are commonly targeted for marketing these products. This makes it especially important that the government invest strongly in Ten Steps implementation. Continuity of care within and across the health system and leadership continuity are key factors in reinforcing its implementation. The study findings from this Indonesian maternity care facility re-emphasize WHO recommendations to integrate the Ten Steps into national health systems and increase pre-service education on breastfeeding for health care professionals.

Breastmilk pumping experiences of physician mothers: quantitative and qualitative findings from a nationwide survey study

BACKGROUND

Nearly half of graduating medical students today are women, with many having children early in their careers, necessitating thoughtful consideration of practices and policies. The short duration of maternity leave for physician mothers often means that most who choose to breastfeed must return to work while still breastfeeding their infants.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the experience of physician mothers and identify facilitators and barriers related to breastmilk pumping upon return to work.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional nationwide survey study administered to physician mothers electronically via REDCap™ to broadly characterize their personal experiences with family leave and return to work.

PARTICIPANTS

Physician mothers in the USA (n=724).

APPROACH/MAIN MEASURE

Demographic data and survey responses related to experiences during family leave and return to work, including free-text response options when participants indicated "other" experiences not captured by the survey response options and one open-ended question asking, "What do you think are the most important factors contributing to a positive maternity/family leave experience?" For this study, we searched free-text responses across the entire survey for keywords related to breastfeeding and pumping and thematically analyzed them to summarize key features of physician mothers' experiences.

KEY RESULTS

Lack of time, flexibility, dedicated and hygienic locations for pumping breast milk, disrespect and lack of support from others, and concerns about financial consequences of productivity changes were the most common barriers to pumping breastmilk reported by physician mothers.

CONCLUSIONS

Flexibility in scheduling, adjusted productivity targets, and clean, private, and well-equipped pumping rooms would likely provide the greatest support to help physician mothers thrive in their careers while simultaneously allowing them to provide the nourishment needed for their developing infants.

Experiences and Impacts of Harassment and Discrimination Among Women in Cardiac Medicine and Surgery: A Single-Center Qualitative Study

Background

Gender- and sex-based harassment and discrimination are consistently reported by about 50% of women physicians, and the prevalence may be even greater among women in cardiology. An exploration of these experiences and their impacts on women in healthcare is necessary to design interventions, create supports, and facilitate empathy, support, and allyship among leadership.

Methods

To understand and describe the experiences of harassment and discrimination among women working in cardiac sciences, to inform the design of interventions and supports, we performed one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with women in the Department of Cardiac Sciences in a single institute. Interviews were coded independently in parallel using thematic analysis and reconciled by trained qualitative researchers. Experiences were categorized as harassment using the Canadian Human Rights Act. Codes were grouped into themes by iterative discussion.

Results

There were 15 participants, including trainees, physicians in a variety of cardiac subdisciplines, and nurse practitioners. All participants had experienced sex- or gender-based discrimination at work, though the impact and perception of these experiences varied. Whereas some participants felt that these experiences had little influence on their careers or personal lives, others changed practice specialties or locations due to harassment. Several participants had been sexually assaulted at work. Interviews revealed modifiable barriers to reporting harassment.

Conclusions

This qualitative dataset enriches the prevalence data on sex- and gender-based harassment among women working in cardiology by describing the impacts and perceptions of this harassment. Organizations should address commonly described barriers to reporting harassment, including addressing retaliation, and create systems-level supports for those affected by harassment.

Delivering Better Solutions for Women Physicians Who Experience Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Childrearing

As the number of women physicians entering the field of medicine has increased over the past decades, pregnancy and maternity leave are becoming common place during both training and independent practice. However, the current system is not designed for extended leaves of absence from the clinical environment. In this commentary, the authors review recent changes in regulatory requirements impacting women physicians in postgraduate training who experience pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing and identify solutions that may result in more optimal work environments for women physicians in practice who experience pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing.

Perception and practice of breastfeeding in public in Poland

BACKGROUND

The aim of the study was to get to know polish women's opinions and experiences regarding breastfeeding in public.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A one-time 11-question survey aimed at women during lactation or breastfeeding in the past who completed a paper questionnaire or online questionnaire on the website (www.laktacja.pl). The study was conducted electronically from 1 September 2019 to 31 March 2020 in Maternity and Neonatal Departments, primary health-care clinics in various Polish cities. Data from 700 questionnaires were statistically analysed with the use of Pearson's chi-squared test of independency or Fisher's exacts test when applicable (small cell counts).

RESULTS

90% of the surveyed women expressed the opinion that it should be possible to breastfeed in public, and 78% of women have had such an experience. Most often it was their own cars, a room for a mother and child, a hall or just a place available when there was a need to feed the child (e.g., a bench, cafe, toilet). About 10% of women faced criticism while breastfeeding in a public place, and 8.6% of women have never breastfed the child out of the house due to the lack of proper place and conditions, embarrassment and no sympathy from other people.

CONCLUSION

Taking into account the benefits of long-term breastfeeding and the comfort of breastfeeding women, their children and the environment, it is necessary to create dedicated places for breastfeeding in public places.

The Impact of Wearable Breast Pumps on Physicians' Breastfeeding Experience and Success

Background: Physician mothers face many barriers in their ability to meet their lactation goals. This is often due to short maternity leaves and an often busy, inflexible work schedule at the time of return to work. We aimed to characterize the effect of using wireless, wearable breast pumps in the workplace and determine if these devices may help overcome barriers to breastfeeding success for physician mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to female physicians and trainees identified through the group "Doctor Mothers Interested in Lactation Knowledge (Dr. MILK)" using an anonymous, Qualtrics^® survey on the group's social media site. Participants were analyzed in two groups: those who had used wearable pumps versus those who had only used traditional breast pumps. Results: Of the 542 respondents analyzed, 321 (59%) had used a wearable pump in the workplace and 221 (41%) had only used a traditional electric breast pump. Those who had used a wearable pump reported statistically significant shorter lactation breaks (p < 0.00001) and were more likely to be able to provide breast milk to their infants for their entire intended duration (p = 0.005) compared to the traditional pump group. The ability to pump as often as needed while at work (p = 0.16) and the frequency of lactation breaks throughout the day (p = 0.223) were not significantly different when comparing the two groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a benefit to using wearable breast pumps for women physicians as they return to work after maternity leave. Utilization of these new wearable pumps correlates with shorter lactation breaks and the ability of physician mothers to provide breast milk to their infants for their intended duration.

Challenges to Navigating Pregnancy and Parenthood for Physician Parents: a Framework Analysis of Qualitative Data

BACKGROUND

Some gender-based disparities in medicine may relate to pregnancy and parenthood. An understanding of the challenges faced by pregnant physicians and physician parents is needed to design policies and interventions to reduce these disparities.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to characterize work-related barriers related to pregnancy and parenthood described by physicians.

DESIGN

We performed framework analysis of qualitative data collected through individual, semi-structured interviews between May and October 2018. Data related to pregnancy or parenthood were organized chronologically to understand barriers throughout the process of pregnancy, planning a parental leave, taking a parental leave, returning from parental leave, and parenting as a physician.

PARTICIPANTS

Physician faculty members of all genders, including parents and non-parents, from a single department at a large academic medical school in Canada were invited to participate in a department-wide study broadly exploring gender equity.

APPROACH

Thematic analysis guided by constructivism.

KEY RESULTS

Twenty-eight physicians were interviewed (7.2% of eligible physicians), including 22 women and 6 men, of which 18 were parents (15 mothers and 3 fathers). Common barriers included a lack of systems-level guidelines for pregnancy and parental leave, inconsistent workplace accommodations for pregnant physicians, a lack of guidance and support for planning parental leaves, and difficulties obtaining clinical coverage for parental leave. Without systems-level guidance, participants had to individually navigate challenges and resolve these difficulties, including negotiating with their leadership for benefits. This led to stress, wasted time and effort, and raised questions about fairness within the department.

CONCLUSIONS

Physician parents face unique challenges navigating institutional policies as well as planning and taking parental leave. Systems-level interventions such as policies for pregnancy, parental leave, and return to work are needed to address barriers experienced by physician parents.