Abstract
This study was to find out whether the presence or the absence of social support for breastfeeding working mothers who return to work after maternity leave does have any significant effect on their level of satisfaction and also their commitment to their jobs. Three categories of social support were looked at: spousal and family members support, colleagues support at the workplace and support from care givers (house helps). A self administered questionnaire was given to 300 breastfeeding working mothers in Accra, Ghana. This group of mothers had their age range from 24-41 years with the mean age of 37.2 years and standard deviation of 8.8. The hypotheses were tested using Chi Square. The findings of the study revealed that breastfeeding working mothers who had support from their spouse and other family members appeared to be satisfied and committed to their jobs. Those who had support from other colleagues at the workplace reported to be satisfied with their jobs but not committed to their jobs. However, the group of mothers who were getting their child care support from care givers (house helps) appeared less committed to their jobs.
Highlights
Reproduction is the ‘mothers work’ of being pregnant and giving birth yet little or no support is given to them at the workplace
Based on the statistical analysis of the data, a primary conclusion is that social support does have an influence on breastfeeding working mothers’ job satisfaction and their level of commitment to their work
This study revealed that, social support for breastfeeding mothers is vital in their attempt to continue the practice of exclusive breastfeeding
Summary
Reproduction is the ‘mothers work’ of being pregnant and giving birth yet little or no support is given to them at the workplace. Women with infants and children below the age of three are the fastest growing segment of today’s labour force (Thompson & Bell, 1997). At least 50% of women who are employed when they become pregnant return to the labour force by the time their children are three months old. There is conflict between paid work and family responsibility such as a working mother taking care of a baby. This has been linked to decrease employee productivity as well as decreased family functioning (Glass & Estes, 1997). For many employees, balancing the dual demands of responsibilities at the workplace and family can become overwhelming for working mothers. Research has shown that multiple roles may have a negative impact on an individual's well being (Kirrane & Buckley, 2004)
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