Background: With more than half of new mothers returning to the workplace with an infant under the age of 1, it is imperative that a workplace support expressing breast milk to meet national guideline recommendations for breastfeeding an infant during the first year of life. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was amended in 2010 to provide protection for mothers expressing breast milk in the workplace. However, these federal guidelines do not have explicit requirements for duration of breaks or frequency of breaks for expressing breast milk. Research demonstrates that working mothers still encounter barriers to expressing milk in the workplace. Due to shift work and environmental workplace factors, nurses are susceptible to these barriers. Since the CDC recommended guidelines in 2017 for use and cleaning of a breast pump require running water, a sink, soap, and a few minutes of additional time on the part of the user, there has been no research to determine if hospital employee lactation policies and practices are amenable to the adherence of these CDC recommendations.
Objectives: The aims of this dissertation research are to conduct a cross sectional study to determine the relationship between workplace lactation support and the duration of breastfeeding, the duration of expressing breast milk in the workplace, and the adherence to CDC guidelines for use and cleaning of a breast pump among nurse employees, nurse managers and hospital representatives at Los Angeles hospitals.
Methods: Purposive sampling will be used to create a representative sample of 11 hospitals in the greater Los Angeles area for the sample setting. Hospitals will be contacted via phone, email, and/or in person for participation. Within each hospital, nurse employees who have given birth within the past 3 years, nurse managers/supervisors, and human resource personnel will be recruited. The Breastfeeding Employment Study Questionnaire will be used to determine which elements of workplace support are associated with nurse employees’ expression of breast milk in the workplace and duration of breastfeeding. Additionally, a questionnaire on knowledge of CDC recommendations for use and cleaning of a breast pump will be administered to all participants and a questionnaire on adherence to CDC recommendations for use and cleaning of a breast pump will be administered to nurse employees.
Data Analysis: Bivariate and multivariate analysis using linear regression will be conducted.
Findings: This study will include nurse employees, nurse managers and hospital organizational level staff to enhance our understanding of workplace support factors that improve the ability to express milk in the workplace. The findings will be used to inform policy that will protect the employee who wishes to express breast milk in the workplace.
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