When dads take leave, moms breastfeed longer
Study finds longer paternity leave is linked to longer infant breastfeeding
- Dads taking more leave were 31% more likely to have partners breastfeed at eight weeks
- Study adds to evidence linking fathers’ leave with family benefits
- ‘In medical training, no one talked about involving dads’
CHICAGO --- Fathers who take at least two weeks of leave after their child’s birth are significantly more likely to report longer breastfeeding duration, according to a recent survey led by scientists at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
“Our study shows fathers play a key role in breastfeeding success — and time off lets them provide crucial support when it matters most,” said lead study author Dr. John James Parker, an assistant professor of pediatrics and medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, pediatrician at Lurie Children’s and internist at Northwestern Medicine.
The findings, published this week in BMC Public Health, provide the first analysis, using father-reported data, of the influence of paternity leave on breastfeeding in the U.S. Breastfeeding provides important health benefits for both mothers and infants, yet rates in the U.S. remain suboptimal. Only 46.5% of infants are exclusively breastfed through three months.
How the study was conducted
Using data from the PRAMS for Dads survey, scientists analyzed answers from a representative sample of 240 employed fathers in the state of Georgia. They found that fathers who took two or more weeks of leave were 31% more likely to report their infant being breastfed at eight weeks compared to those who took less than two weeks.
Among families who started breastfeeding, those where dads took at least two weeks of leave had a 25% higher rate of continued breastfeeding at eight weeks than those where dads took less time off. This was true even after adjusting for paternal, maternal and infant characteristics.
“Fathers can support breastfeeding by taking on hands-on baby care — changing diapers, burping, rocking and feeding expressed milk — while also ensuring mothers get the nutrition, hydration and rest they need to recover,” Parker said. “All these father-supportive activities are easier when fathers have more generous leave.”
The study also found disparities in paid leave access, with white fathers more likely to receive paid leave than fathers from other racial and ethnic groups. In total, 73% of employed fathers in the sample reported taking leave, with slightly over 50% receiving some paid leave. Fathers who took paid leave were more likely to take at least two weeks off.
‘In medical training, no one talked about involving dads’
Parker, a father of three, says his own experience around his children’s births inspired his research. “When I became a father, I realized how absent dads were from the conversation,” he said. “In medical training, no one talked about involving dads or why that mattered.
A turning point came when his pediatrician gave him tips on supporting his wife with breastfeeding. “It made me feel part of the team,” he said. “Now, I do the same for the dads I work with.”
Paternity leave in the U.S.
The U.S. lags behind other high-income countries in providing paid parental leave. A 2022 study found only 13% of employers offer paid paternity leave to all their male employees, and most fathers who get paid leave take only one week or less.
Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have passed paid family leave laws, though only nine states have fully implemented them. “These disparities highlight challenges for families and underscore the need for more research,” Parker said. “We hope our study helps policymakers — and how that impacts family health.”
This study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative agreement #U38OT00140) and CDC Innovation Fund, Office of Science/Office of Technology and Innovation.
Journal
BMC Public Health
Article Title
Fathers’ work leave and infant breastfeeding in a state-representative sample of fathers in Georgia, United States
Article Publication Date
24-Feb-2025
How parenthood may help keep your brain young
Parents' brains may be getting an unexpected benefit from raising children: protection against some effects of aging, according to a new study of nearly 37,000 adults.
The research from Rutgers Health and Yale University, published in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, found that parents show patterns of brain connectivity that directly oppose typical age-related changes, with the effect strengthening with each additional child.
The finding held for both mothers and fathers, suggesting the benefits come from the experience of parenting rather than biological changes from pregnancy.
“The regions that decrease in functional connectivity as individuals age are the regions associated with increased connectivity when individuals have had children,” said senior study author Avram Holmes, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and core faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research.
The research analyzed brain scans and family information from the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research source. The analysis showed how different brain regions communicate with each other. The team focused particularly on areas involved in movement, sensation and social connection.
They found that parents with more children tended to have stronger connectivity in key brain networks, especially those involved in movement and sensation. These same networks typically show decreased connectivity as people age.
“We're seeing a widespread pattern of functional alterations, where a higher number of children parented is associated with increased functional connectivity across somatosensory and motor networks,” Holmes said.
The effect appears to be cumulative: The more children parents had, the stronger the brain differences appeared.
The findings challenge assumptions that having children primarily creates stress and strain. Instead, the research suggests parenting may provide a form of environmental enrichment that could benefit brain health through increased physical activity, social interaction and cognitive stimulation.
“The caregiving environment, rather than pregnancy alone, appears important since we see these effects in both mothers and fathers,” Holmes said.
Parents in the study also showed higher levels of social connection, with more frequent family visits and larger social networks.
However, the researchers caution that more work is needed to understand exactly how parenting creates these brain changes. The study participants were primarily from the United Kingdom, so the findings may not generalize to all cultures and family structures.
The research could have implications beyond traditional parent-child relationships.
“If what we're picking up is a relationship between enhanced social interactions and social support that comes about through having increased numbers of children in your life, then that means that we could tap into those same processes even if individuals don't have a social support network currently,” Holmes said.
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Method of Research
Imaging analysis
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Protective role of parenthood on age-related brain function in mid- to late-life
Article Publication Date
25-Feb-2025
COI Statement
E.R.O. is supported by a Kavli Institute for Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an American Association for University Women International Fellowship. S.C. is supported by an American Australian Association Graduate Research Fund Scholarship and the McKenzie Fellowship from the University of Melbourne. This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant Nos. R01MH120080 [to A.J.H. and B.T.T.Y.] and R01MH123245 [to A.J.H.]). S.D.J. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Fellowship APP1174146. H.J.V.R. is supported by NIH R01 HD108218, R01 DA050636, and R21 DA052620. B.T.T.Y. is supported by the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUHSRO/2020/124/TMR/LOA), the Singapore National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Large-Collaborative-Grant (OFLCG19May-0035), NMRC Clinical-Trial-Grant-Investigator-Initiated-Trials (CTGIIT23jan-0001), NMRC Open-Fund-Individual-Research-Grant (OFIRG24jan-0030), NMRC Singapore Translational Research Investigator Award (STaR20nov-0003), Singapore Ministry of Health Centre Grant (CG21APR1009), the Temasek Foundation (TF2223-IMH-01), and the United States NIH (R01MH133334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of funders.
