The Struggles of Breastfeeding: The Burden of Breastfeeding Expectations on Working Women in Turkiye

In Turkiye, breastfeeding is widely promoted for its "undisputed advantages" for both infant health and society. The Turkish Ministry of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continuing for up to two years. However, this encouragement, rooted in medical discourse, cultural expectations, and family pressures, creates significant stress on mothers, particularly working women, who face the challenge of balancing societal roles of being a "good mother" and a "good worker.” This study is based on data collected from semi-structured interviews with 20 full-time working women with children under two years old. The findings reveal that while society places a strong emphasis on breastfeeding, the burden of fulfilling this demand is largely left to mothers. The dominant breastfeeding discourse often induces guilt in working mothers who struggle to maintain breastfeeding due to work constraints, resulting in a clash between their roles as mothers and employees. Another key finding is that pumping at work is rarely discussed and often hidden. Pumping requires access to resources such as clean water, proper milk storage, and private spaces, which are usually unavailable in workplaces. As a result, participants in the study state that they face uncomfortable conditions that discourage breastfeeding. Furthermore, although women are entitled to "milk permission" during the workday, this time is generally used to leave work earlier rather than to breastfeed. Practical challenges, such as the distance between work and home, make it nearly impossible for mothers to breastfeed by using “milk permission” during the day. In conclusion, the findings of the study indicate that societal pressure to breastfeed falls disproportionately on working mothers, without adequate support from workplaces or broader social structures. This imbalance creates a conflict between the demands of motherhood and professional life, leading to feelings of guilt, frustration and tiredness among working mothers.