Sick children can be a reason a mother is absent from work or does not work optimally. This study aims to look at the relationship between exclusive breastfeeding practices and frequency of sick children and the productivity of health-care provider mothers. This quantitative study was done using a sample of 160 health-care provider mothers from hospitals in cities and districts in Samarinda, Indonesia. Data analysis was approached using Chi-square test for categorical variables. There is a significant relationship between the practice of exclusive breastfeeding and the frequency of sick children and the productivity of health-care provider mothers (p = 0.002). The results showed that the scores of OR on the frequency variable of sick children and maternal-productivity variables are 3.22 and 2.99, respectively. The practice of exclusive breastfeeding can reduce the frequency of sick children and the productivity of health-care provider mothers. The health-care provider mothers play a role in promoting exclusive breastfeeding and as role models in providing support for the application of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative with "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding". There is a need for regulations regarding maternity and breastfeeding leave regardless of employment status.
Keywords: BFHI; Exclusive breastfeeding; health-care provider mothers; maternal productivity; sick-children frequency.