We study postpartum decisions about paid work and breastfeeding using a simultaneous equations model. For our sample of … duration and duration of any, as well as of exclusive, breastfeeding, and daily work hours and daily breastfeedings at infant … age 3 months. We find that returning to paid work 1 week earlier reduces any breastfeeding duration by about two-thirds of …

initiating breastfeeding and the number of weeks of breastfeeding. Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY … associated with a reduction in the probability that the mother will initiate breastfeeding by 16–18%. Among those mothers who … initiate breastfeeding, returning to work within 3 months is associated with a reduction in the length of breastfeeding of 4 …