Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Jan 24;20(1):e0316436.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316436. eCollection 2025.

How is maternal employment associated with infant and young child feeding in Bangladesh? A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

M A Rifat  1 , Plabon Sarkar  2 , Israth Jahan Rimu  3 , Syeda Saima Alam  3 , Tasnu Ara  4 , Tobias Lindström Battle  1 , Manzur Kader  1 , Sanjib Saha  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

How is maternal employment associated with infant and young child feeding in Bangladesh? A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

M A Rifat et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: In the last three decades, the increasing trend in female employment in Bangladesh has been critically analyzed from a socioeconomic point of view; however, its impact on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices has yet to be systematically reviewed. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the association between these variables.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, and Google Scholar to retrieve relevant records with no restriction of publication period. The Covidence tool was used for screening and data extraction. Meta-analysis was carried out using random effect models. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used for the quality assessment of the included articles.

Results: A total of 24 articles were included. Of these, 16 focused on breastfeeding-related indicators, 6 focused on complementary feeding-related indicators, and 2 focused on both. Maternal employment was found to have both positive (protective) and negative (detrimental) associations with exclusive breastfeeding, whereas it was mainly positively associated with complementary feeding practices. Meta-analysis showed the pooled odds ratio of recommended early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, and complementary feeding among employed mothers were 0.79 (95% CI: 0.49, 1.27; p = 0.33), 0.32 (95% CI:0.16, 0.67; p = 0.002), and 1.07 (95% CI: 0.81, 1.42; p = 0.63) compared to their counterparts, respectively.

Conclusions: Maternal employment appears not to be a protective factor for some important breastfeeding indicators in Bangladesh. For example, there was a statistically significant lower likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding practice among employed mothers as compared to those who were not employed. Therefore, these issues should be taken into consideration when formulating relevant policies and interventions, e.g., breastfeeding-friendly workplace.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Selection of the included studies.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Pooled odds ratio (OR) showing the likelihood of early initiation of breastfeeding among employed mothers in Bangladesh as compared to their counterparts.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Pooled odds ratio (OR) showing the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding among employed mothers in Bangladesh as compared to their counterparts.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Pooled odds ratio (OR) showing the likelihood of recommended complementary feeding among employed mothers in Bangladesh as compared to their counterparts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. WHO & UNIECF. Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices part 1 definitions [Internet]. 2021. [cited 2023 Apr 17]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240018389.
    1. Sheikh N, Akram R, Ali N, Haque SR, Tisha S, Mahumud RA, et al.. Infant and young child feeding practice, dietary diversity, associated predictors, and child health outcomes in Bangladesh. Journal of Child Health Care. 2019. Jun 1;24(2):260–73. doi: 10.1177/1367493519852486 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhutta ZA, Ahmed T, Black RE, Cousens S, Dewey K, Giugliani E, et al.. What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival. www.thelancet.com [Internet]. 2008;371. Available from: www.thelancet.com doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61693-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) and ICF 2020. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18 [Internet]. Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Rockville, Maryland, USA; 2020 [cited 2023 Apr 16]. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR344/FR344.pdf
    1. Reddy N S, Dharmaraj A, Jacob J, Sindhu KN. Exclusive breastfeeding practices and its determinants in Indian infants: findings from the National Family Health Surveys-4 and 5. Int Breastfeed J. 2023. Dec 1;18(1). doi: 10.1186/s13006-023-00602-z - DOI - PMC - PubMed