Pandemic Policies and Breastfeeding: A Cross-Sectional Study during the Onset of COVID-19 in the United States

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Citation

Palmquist, Aunchalee E. L.; Tomori, Cecília; Tumlinson, Katherine; Fox, Carolyn; Chung, Stephanie; & Quinn, Elizabeth A. (2022). Pandemic Policies and Breastfeeding: A Cross-Sectional Study during the Onset of COVID-19 in the United States. Frontiers in Sociology, 7, 958108. PMCID: PMC9669788

Abstract

The United States is one of the few countries, and the only high-income country, that does not federally mandate protection of postpartum employment through paid postpartum maternity and family leave policies. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., stay-at-home orders were implemented nationally, creating a natural experiment in which to document the effects of de facto paid leave on infant feeding practices in the first postpartum year. The purpose of this cross-sectional, mixed-methods study was to describe infant and young child feeding intentions, practices, decision-making, and experiences during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected March 27-May 31, 2020 via online survey among a convenience sample of respondents, ages 18 years and older, who were currently feeding a child 2 years of age or younger, yielding 1,437 eligible responses. Nearly all (97%) respondents indicated an intention to feed their infant exclusively with human milk in the first 6 months. A majority of respondents who were breastfeeding (66%) reported no change in breastfeeding frequency after the implementation of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. However, thirty-one percent indicated that they breastfed more frequently due to stay-at-home orders and delayed plans to wean their infant or young child. Key themes drawn from the qualitative data were: emerging knowledge and perceptions of the relationship between COVID-19 and breastfeeding, perceptions of immune factors in human milk, and the social construction of COVID-19 and infant and young child feeding perceptions and knowledge. There were immediate positive effects of stay-at-home policies on human milk feeding practices, even during a time of considerable uncertainty about the safety of breastfeeding and the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 via human milk, constrained access to health care services and COVID-19 testing, and no effective COVID-19 vaccines. Federally mandated paid postpartum and family leave are essential to achieving more equitable lactation outcomes.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.958108

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2022

Journal Title

Frontiers in Sociology

Author(s)

Palmquist, Aunchalee E. L.
Tomori, Cecília
Tumlinson, Katherine
Fox, Carolyn
Chung, Stephanie
Quinn, Elizabeth A.

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC9669788

Continent/Country

United States of America

State

Nonspecific

ORCiD

Palmquist - 0000-0002-0848-6952
Tumlinson - 0000-0001-8314-8219