Background: Despite legislation requiring break time and a private space to express milk, variations exist in accommodations for breastfeeding employees in the United States.
Research aims: We aimed to describe employee and employer perceptions of and experiences with workplace lactation support in the United States and to identify research needed to inform workplace lactation support programs.
Methods: We searched Academic Search Complete, Business Search Complete, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsycInfo for peer-reviewed articles published from 2009 to 2019 (n = 1638). We included 27 articles. Studies were categorized into four non-exclusive themes: (a) employee perceptions of and experiences with workplace lactation support; (b) employer reports of workplace lactation support; (c) association between workplace lactation support and business outcomes; and (d) association between workplace lactation support and breastfeeding outcomes.
Results: Analyses of associations between lactation support at work and employee breastfeeding outcomes (n = 14, 52%), and employee perceptions of and experiences with lactation support at work (n = 14, 52%) were most common, followed by employer reports of lactation support (n = 3, 11%) and associations between lactation support at work and job satisfaction (n = 3, 11%). Results indicated that workplace lactation support varied by employer, and that employee perceptions of and experiences with workplace lactation support varied by demographic and employment characteristics. The use of cross-sectional designs, unvalidated instruments, and limited representation from women with low incomes and minorities were common study limitations.
Conclusions: More research is needed to learn about experiences of employers and low-income and minority women with workplace lactation support and associations with business-relevant outcomes.
Keywords: breastfeeding; breastfeeding barriers; breastfeeding experience; breastfeeding support; lactation workplace programs.