Breastfeeding provides important nutritional, immunological and developmental benefits for infants and health benefits for mothers, yet maintaining breastfeeding after returning to paid employment remains difficult for many women. Malaysia provides a useful case study because female participation in the formal workforce has increased while breastfeeding policy has developed through national health guidance, maternity protection, workplace initiatives and health-promotion programmes. This narrative review synthesizes Malaysian evidence on breastfeeding among working mothers, with emphasis on breastfeeding duration, exclusive breastfeeding, breastmilk expression, workplace facilities, working schedules, childcare, employer support and the policy environment. National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 data indicate that 94.9% of Malaysian children born in the preceding 24 months had ever been breastfed, 64.3% were initiated to breastfeeding within one hour of birth, and 50.6% of children aged 12–23 months were still being breastfed. These national indicators coexist with evidence that returning to employment can create practical barriers. An earlier Malaysian study among 290 formally employed mothers found that 51% had discontinued breastfeeding, and inadequate workplace breastfeeding facilities were independently associated with discontinuation . Qualitative Malaysian studies have described difficulties obtaining private spaces, storing expressed milk, finding time to express milk and maintaining milk supply under work-related stress. The policy environment has improved: since 1 January 2023, the Employment Act 1955 amendment increased statutory maternity leave in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan from 60 to 98 days and introduced flexible working-arrangement provisions. This review argues that Malaysia’s next phase of breastfeeding policy should move from maternity protection alone toward comprehensive return-to-work lactation support. Priority actions include minimum workplace lactation standards, protected and predictable expression time, safe milk-storage infrastructure, breastfeeding-friendly childcare, supervisor training, flexible work arrangements and stronger monitoring of implementation. Such measures can support maternal choice while improving the continuity of infant feeding across the transition from maternity leave to employment.
Keywords:Breastfeeding; working mothers; Malaysia; exclusive breastfeeding; breastmilk expression; workplace support