Retorno ao trabalho após licença-maternidade: vivência de mães trabalhadoras

Abstract

Objective: comprehend impacts of return-to-work after maternity leave. Method: qualitative study with mothers who return to work regardless of kind of job in São Paulo, Brazil. Seventeen women have participated in online interviews following a validated script of open questions, between February and August 2021. Data analysis has been done simultaneously of data collected through thematic approach and the sample was delimited by saturation. Results: return to work influenced breastfeeding even in home office; duality between career and the care of the babies cause job dissatisfaction, because of frustration on performance; lack of support with baby caring (daycare centers), reinforced by the pandemic. Conclusions: return to work impacts breastfeeding and quality of mother-child bond mainly in women without maternity-leave benefits. Employers and government should look into this problem and reinforce progressive and protective return to work to promote mother-child health.