ABSTRACT

Employment and breastfeeding among first-time mothers in Malaysia remain problematic, due, in part, to the lack of clear policies and policy implementation. This article, based on a phenomenological study utilising dyadic interviews with eight participants and twelve interviews, explores the experience of Malaysian first-time parents managing both breastfeeding and employment. The findings illustrate that although breastfeeding is considered a mother's responsibility and is regarded as the preferred and superior form of infant feeding, there is often no designated time or space for expressing milk, causing many participants to use their lunch or tea breaks for this purpose. While study participants describe themselves as feeling supported by their partners, families, colleagues, and workplace superiors to breastfeed at work, they must nonetheless manage the perceived contradiction between the lactating body and the ‘male working body’. For these participants, this entails deftly negotiating the demands of being a good mother with a successful performance of the good worker role. Future research implications include a focus on identifying the roles and possible roles of fathers in infant feeding, and guidelines around monitoring breastfeeding breaks and spaces for mothers at work.

摘要

马来西亚初产妇的就业和母乳喂养仍然存在问题，部分原因是缺乏明确的政策和政策实施。本文基于一项现象学研究，利用对八名参与者和十二名参与者的二元访谈和十二次访谈，探讨了马来西亚首次为人父母管理母乳喂养和就业的经验。研究结果表明，虽然母乳喂养被认为是母亲的责任，并且被认为是婴儿喂养的首选和优越形式，但通常没有指定的时间或空间来挤奶，导致许多参与者为此目的利用午餐或茶歇。虽然研究参与者将自己描述为在工作中得到合作伙伴、家人、同事和工作场所上司的支持以进行母乳喂养，尽管如此，他们仍必须处理泌乳体和“男性工作体”之间的感知矛盾。对于这些参与者来说，这需要巧妙地协商成为一个好母亲的要求，并成功地扮演好工人角色。未来的研究意义包括重点确定父亲在婴儿喂养中的角色和可能的角色，以及关于监测母乳喂养休息时间和母亲工作空间的指南。