title: Four Years Later: Rural Mothers' and Employers' Perspectives on Breastfeeding Barriers Following the Passage of the Affordable Care Act.
abstract: For the working rural mother, one key source of support for breastfeeding is the employer. The purpose of this article was to examine workplace barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding in a small rural American community following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. We used a qualitative research design: semi-structured interviews with major employers and low-income working breastfeeding mothers, and a focus-group with another group of employed and unemployed breastfeeding low-income mothers. While some businesses accommodate breastfeeding mothers, few actively promote breastfeeding. Lack of compliance with the new law, inadequate breastfeeding information for mothers, and lack of support from co-workers and supervisors emerged as the main barriers to successful workplace breastfeeding. To improve workplace breastfeeding support significantly there is need for authentic collaboration among maternal-child and rural health agencies and businesses in creating breastfeeding-tolerant, flexible, and forward-looking work environments that, at a minimum, satisfy the law.
authors.forename: Wilson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Majee
authors.forename: Urmeka T
authors.initials: UT
authors.lastname: Jefferson
authors.forename: Laurel R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Joshua E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Olsberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011203:Poverty; D012423:Rural Health; D017132:Workplace