Perceived Stress in Breastfeeding Working Mothers in Iran

Abstract

Working breastfeeding mothers because of multiple and conflicting roles and demands in home and work-place experience high level of stress. Identifying perceived stress of this group of mothers can be helpful in their life promotion. This study aimed to describe the experiences of sixteen Iranian breastfeeding mothers who returned to work and to discover, through in depth, semi-structured interviews their perceived stress. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic-analysis. Two main themes emerged by analyzing data about perceived stress: 1) "Not being a good mother" with subthemes of a) Feeling of cruelty toward the child and b) Child neglect of maternal care; and 2) "Feeling trapped" with subthemes of a) Inflexible expectations and 2) Forgotten identity. Findings of this study emphasize the need to promote awareness of spouses of this group of mothers about the difficult situation which mothers face with and planning to promote their participation especially in care of child. Providing family-friendly policies in work-place is suggested.