The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector

Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi; Danielle Hinchcliffe; Darcy Neilson

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector

Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi^*

, Danielle Hinchcliffe

, Darcy Neilson

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 8, Issue 1)

Received: 17 December 2024 Accepted: 13 January 2025 Published: 24 January 2025

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Abstract

The UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding. The National Health Service (NHS) provides guidance on how breastfeeding mothers should be supported in the workplace. However, the implementation of the guidance is not consistent across the sector, hence impacting on mothers’ ability to initiate or sustain breastfeeding. This study draws on data collected from 983 survey responses targeted at mothers working in the health sector. The study found that health sector employees are not well supported to breastfeed upon return to work. Only 36.3% of the participants (n=983) reported their workplace had a breastfeeding policy. Participants cited breastfeeding as a reason for staying longer on maternity leave because of lack of workplace support. This also affected mothers’ ability to benefit from shared parental leave, as it would require the mother to return to work early. This study highlights the barriers mothers in the health sector face with breastfeeding upon return to work while expected to continue fulfilling their duties, which includes promoting and supporting breastfeeding to other mothers and patients. The findings of this study expose the urgent need for the UK health sector to review its workplace policy to implement the guidance provided by the NHS to support breastfeeding employees returning to work. More broadly, the study exposes the extent of breastfeeding challenges in the UK and the need for a legislative reform to include breastfeeding in the national family friendly rights which will obligate employers to provide resources to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14
Page(s)	25-36
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Breastfeeding, Infant Feeding, Breastfeeding Promotion, Equality

References

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Ndzi, E. G., Hinchcliffe, D., Neilson, D. (2025). The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. International Journal of Law and Society, 8(1), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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Ndzi, E. G.; Hinchcliffe, D.; Neilson, D. The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. Int. J. Law Soc. 2025, 8(1), 25-36. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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Ndzi EG, Hinchcliffe D, Neilson D. The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. Int J Law Soc. 2025;8(1):25-36. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14,
  author = {Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi and Danielle Hinchcliffe and Darcy Neilson},
  title = {The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector
},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {25-36},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20250801.14},
  abstract = {The UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding. The National Health Service (NHS) provides guidance on how breastfeeding mothers should be supported in the workplace. However, the implementation of the guidance is not consistent across the sector, hence impacting on mothers’ ability to initiate or sustain breastfeeding. This study draws on data collected from 983 survey responses targeted at mothers working in the health sector. The study found that health sector employees are not well supported to breastfeed upon return to work. Only 36.3% of the participants (n=983) reported their workplace had a breastfeeding policy. Participants cited breastfeeding as a reason for staying longer on maternity leave because of lack of workplace support. This also affected mothers’ ability to benefit from shared parental leave, as it would require the mother to return to work early. This study highlights the barriers mothers in the health sector face with breastfeeding upon return to work while expected to continue fulfilling their duties, which includes promoting and supporting breastfeeding to other mothers and patients. The findings of this study expose the urgent need for the UK health sector to review its workplace policy to implement the guidance provided by the NHS to support breastfeeding employees returning to work. More broadly, the study exposes the extent of breastfeeding challenges in the UK and the need for a legislative reform to include breastfeeding in the national family friendly rights which will obligate employers to provide resources to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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T1  - The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector

AU  - Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi
AU  - Danielle Hinchcliffe
AU  - Darcy Neilson
Y1  - 2025/01/24
PY  - 2025
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
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AB  - The UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding. The National Health Service (NHS) provides guidance on how breastfeeding mothers should be supported in the workplace. However, the implementation of the guidance is not consistent across the sector, hence impacting on mothers’ ability to initiate or sustain breastfeeding. This study draws on data collected from 983 survey responses targeted at mothers working in the health sector. The study found that health sector employees are not well supported to breastfeed upon return to work. Only 36.3% of the participants (n=983) reported their workplace had a breastfeeding policy. Participants cited breastfeeding as a reason for staying longer on maternity leave because of lack of workplace support. This also affected mothers’ ability to benefit from shared parental leave, as it would require the mother to return to work early. This study highlights the barriers mothers in the health sector face with breastfeeding upon return to work while expected to continue fulfilling their duties, which includes promoting and supporting breastfeeding to other mothers and patients. The findings of this study expose the urgent need for the UK health sector to review its workplace policy to implement the guidance provided by the NHS to support breastfeeding employees returning to work. More broadly, the study exposes the extent of breastfeeding challenges in the UK and the need for a legislative reform to include breastfeeding in the national family friendly rights which will obligate employers to provide resources to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.

VL  - 8
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Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi

York Business School, York St John University, York, UK

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http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0043-9991
Danielle Hinchcliffe

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

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http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5204-5161
Darcy Neilson

School of Education, Languages and Psychology, York St John University, York, UK

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http://orcid.org/0009-0004-2265-1872

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Ndzi, E. G., Hinchcliffe, D., Neilson, D. (2025). The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. International Journal of Law and Society, 8(1), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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Ndzi, E. G.; Hinchcliffe, D.; Neilson, D. The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. Int. J. Law Soc. 2025, 8(1), 25-36. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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Ndzi EG, Hinchcliffe D, Neilson D. The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector. Int J Law Soc. 2025;8(1):25-36. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14,
  author = {Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi and Danielle Hinchcliffe and Darcy Neilson},
  title = {The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector
},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {25-36},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20250801.14},
  abstract = {The UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding. The National Health Service (NHS) provides guidance on how breastfeeding mothers should be supported in the workplace. However, the implementation of the guidance is not consistent across the sector, hence impacting on mothers’ ability to initiate or sustain breastfeeding. This study draws on data collected from 983 survey responses targeted at mothers working in the health sector. The study found that health sector employees are not well supported to breastfeed upon return to work. Only 36.3% of the participants (n=983) reported their workplace had a breastfeeding policy. Participants cited breastfeeding as a reason for staying longer on maternity leave because of lack of workplace support. This also affected mothers’ ability to benefit from shared parental leave, as it would require the mother to return to work early. This study highlights the barriers mothers in the health sector face with breastfeeding upon return to work while expected to continue fulfilling their duties, which includes promoting and supporting breastfeeding to other mothers and patients. The findings of this study expose the urgent need for the UK health sector to review its workplace policy to implement the guidance provided by the NHS to support breastfeeding employees returning to work. More broadly, the study exposes the extent of breastfeeding challenges in the UK and the need for a legislative reform to include breastfeeding in the national family friendly rights which will obligate employers to provide resources to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Impact of Legal Policies and Workplace Culture on Breastfeeding in the UK Health Sector

AU  - Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi
AU  - Danielle Hinchcliffe
AU  - Darcy Neilson
Y1  - 2025/01/24
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 25
EP  - 36
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20250801.14
AB  - The UK remains one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world despite the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding. The National Health Service (NHS) provides guidance on how breastfeeding mothers should be supported in the workplace. However, the implementation of the guidance is not consistent across the sector, hence impacting on mothers’ ability to initiate or sustain breastfeeding. This study draws on data collected from 983 survey responses targeted at mothers working in the health sector. The study found that health sector employees are not well supported to breastfeed upon return to work. Only 36.3% of the participants (n=983) reported their workplace had a breastfeeding policy. Participants cited breastfeeding as a reason for staying longer on maternity leave because of lack of workplace support. This also affected mothers’ ability to benefit from shared parental leave, as it would require the mother to return to work early. This study highlights the barriers mothers in the health sector face with breastfeeding upon return to work while expected to continue fulfilling their duties, which includes promoting and supporting breastfeeding to other mothers and patients. The findings of this study expose the urgent need for the UK health sector to review its workplace policy to implement the guidance provided by the NHS to support breastfeeding employees returning to work. More broadly, the study exposes the extent of breastfeeding challenges in the UK and the need for a legislative reform to include breastfeeding in the national family friendly rights which will obligate employers to provide resources to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.

VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  -

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