COMPARISON OF MATERNAL ABSENTEEISM AND INFANT ILLNESS RATES AMONG BREAST-FEEDING AND FORMULA-FEEDING WOMEN IN 2 CORPORATIONS

Purpose. A comparison was made between breast-feeding and formula-feed ing among employed mothers. Absenteeism directly related to child care was examined. Design. This quasi-experimental study followed convenie nce samples of breast-feeding and formula-feeding mothers until their infants were weaned or reached 1 year of age. Setting. True corporatio ns with established lactation programs were used. One had approximatel y 100 births annually among 2400 female employees, and the other had a pproximately 30 births annually among 1200 female employees. Subjects. A sample of 101 participants, 59 feeding breast milk and 42 using com mercial formula, was composed of employees returning from maternity le ave for a medically uncomplicated birth. Intervention. The programs pr ovided counseling by a lactation professional for all participants and facilities to collect and store breast milk. Measures. Confidential p articipant diaries provided descriptive data on infant illnesses and r elated absenteeism that the lactation consultant verified with health care providers and through employer attendance records. Analysis. Attr ibute counts of illnesses and absenteeism were reported as percentages . Single degree of freedom chi(2) tests were used to compare rates bet ween nutrition groups. Results. Approximately 28% of the infants in th e study had no illnesses; 86% of these were breast-fed and 14% were fo rmula-fed. When illnesses occurred, 25% of all 1-day maternal absences were among breast-fed babies and 75% were among the formula-fed group . Conclusions. In this study fewer and less severe infant illnesses an d less maternal absenteeism was found in the breast-feeding group. Thi s was not an experimental study. Participants were self-selected, and a comparison group was used rather than a true control group. Corrobor ation of these findings from larger experimental studies is needed to generalize beyond these groups.