Maternity Leave Access and Breastfeeding Practices among Working Mothers in an Urban Residential Area of East Delhi

BACKGROUND: Despite the provision of maternity leave benefits under the maternity benefit amendment act, its access by working mothers in the community is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to find out access to maternity leave among working mothers and its association with breastfeeding practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted among 150 working mothers with children 6 months to 3 years of age. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were applied to find the association of breastfeeding practices with maternity leave and independent predictors of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), respectively. RESULTS: Paid maternity leave was accessed by majority (103, 68.7%) of the working mothers. EBF among mothers working in government organizations was more (Adjusted odds ratio: 2.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.0–5.1) than in private organizations. CONCLUSION: Lower proportion of mothers in private organizations had availed paid maternity leave as compared to government organizations. Increase in coverage of maternity benefits in the private sector is needed.