SPOKANE, Wash. — Working from home is widely regarded as one of the most breastfeeding-friendly employment arrangements available to new mothers. Yet a longitudinal study from Washington State University suggests that physical proximity alone may not determine whether mothers can sustain exclusive breastfeeding. Instead, the intensity of paid and unpaid work, the cognitive demands of employment, emotional strain, and access to structured workplace support may play equally important roles.
The study, published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, followed 81 new mothers between June 2022 and August 2023. Participants completed online surveys at four timepoints—4, 12, 20, and 24 weeks after giving birth—allowing researchers to examine how breastfeeding experiences changed during the transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to the post-pandemic period. The participants were divided into three groups: stay-at-home mothers, mothers returning to paid work from home, and mothers returning to work outside the home.
Exclusive breastfeeding generally means that an infant receives breast milk without other foods or liquids, apart from medically indicated supplements. Global health guidance recommends exclusive breastfeeding for approximately the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding alongside complementary foods for two years or longer. In the United States, however, only about 27% of infants are exclusively breastfed at six months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new study therefore examines a public-health issue shaped not only by individual choices but also by employment structures, household labor, and social support.
The researchers found an initially counterintuitive pattern. By 24 weeks, mothers working outside the home had the highest estimated probability of continuing exclusive breastfeeding, at approximately 70%. Mothers working from home followed at about 60%, while stay-at-home mothers had the lowest estimated probability, at roughly 37%. The stay-at-home group also reported the lowest scores on measures of the breastfeeding relationship, including mother-infant responsiveness and mothers’ perceptions of milk adequacy.
The results do not indicate that employment directly improves breastfeeding or that staying at home causes breastfeeding difficulties. Rather, they show how different forms of work may create different pressures. Employment outside the home often imposes fixed schedules, but it can also provide defined working hours, formal leave policies, access to colleagues, and clearer separation between paid labor and family responsibilities. These boundaries may help some mothers organize feeding and pumping routines more deliberately, particularly when employers provide suitable accommodations.
Remote work appeared to offer important benefits during the early postpartum period. Mothers working from home reported greater flexibility and more emotional stability at the beginning of the study. Being physically close to an infant can make direct breastfeeding easier and may reduce the logistical demands of commuting or arranging childcare. However, those advantages did not necessarily persist. As work responsibilities intensified, mothers working remotely often had to shift rapidly between infant care and paid employment, creating a continuous overlap between two demanding roles.
That overlap can be particularly challenging because breastfeeding is not simply a matter of being near an infant. Milk production is regulated partly through the removal of milk from the breast, either by nursing or pumping. Delayed feeds, interrupted pumping sessions, stress, and fatigue can interfere with a mother’s ability to maintain a consistent routine. For remote workers facing deadlines, meetings, project leadership, or sustained concentration, taking time to breastfeed or pump may feel difficult even when the infant is only a few rooms away. The study indicates that high work engagement and intense cognitive demands were associated with greater obstacles for remote mothers.
The findings also draw attention to the largely invisible workload of stay-at-home mothers. Unlike paid employment, household labor and infant care often lack fixed hours, formal recognition, or a clear endpoint. A mother may be physically present with her infant throughout the day while simultaneously managing feeding, sleep disruptions, domestic tasks, and constant caregiving. This “always-on” workload can produce exhaustion and reduce opportunities for rest, planning, or obtaining breastfeeding assistance. Physical proximity, the researchers argue, should not be mistaken for practical support.
Natsuko Wood, an assistant professor at the WSU College of Nursing and the study’s corresponding author, said the results demonstrate that “work engagement—not just where the work is done” is central to understanding breastfeeding experiences. The authors call for institutional support that applies to employees in both traditional and remote workplaces, including protected pumping or feeding time, appropriate private spaces, realistic workloads, supportive supervisors, and clear boundaries around availability. Because the study used a relatively small online cohort and observational survey data, its findings cannot establish cause and effect. Nevertheless, it highlights a structural dimension of breastfeeding that is often overlooked: supporting mothers requires more than placing them near their babies; it requires redesigning the conditions under which both paid and unpaid work are performed.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Beyond the Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis of Work Location on Breastfeeding Relationships, Maternal Emotions, and Exclusive Breastfeeding
Web References: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01939459261462458; https://doi.org/10.1177/01939459261462458
References: Wood, Natsuko K., and Justice Nii-Ayitey. “Beyond the Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis of Work Location on Breastfeeding Relationships, Maternal Emotions, and Exclusive Breastfeeding.” Western Journal of Nursing Research. DOI: 10.1177/01939459261462458.
Keywords: breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, remote work, work from home, maternal health, postpartum mothers, workplace support, breastfeeding relationships, employment, public health
