The Effect of Hospital Postpartum Care Regulations on Breastfeeding and Maternal Time Allocation

Emily C. Lawler and Katherine G. Yewell

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 477-513

Abstract: We study the effects of state hospital regulations intended to increase breastfeeding by requiring certain standards of care during the immediate postpartum hospital stay. We find that these regulations significantly increased breastfeeding initiation by 3.8 percentage points (5.1 percent) and the probability of breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months postpartum by approximately 7 percent. We also provide evidence that these breastfeeding-promoting policies significantly increased maternal time spent on child care, crowding out time spent on formal work. Observed reductions in employment are concentrated among mothers with infants between zero and three months of age.

JEL-codes: H75 I11 I18 J13 J16 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1257/app.20220201

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