Italian Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine, vol.8, no.2, pp.87-96, 2022 (Scopus)
© 2022, Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore s.r.l.. All rights reserved.This study aimed to evaluate the maternity leave from the physician fathers’ perspective and examine the factors affecting their support for their colleagues. This descriptive research study was conducted among a social media group. A 20-item data-collecting tool was used, consisting of four parts: a socio-demographic data section, questions about the respondent’s job, questions pertaining to his wife’s breastfeeding, and questions regarding his opinions and attitude toward his female physician colleagues. Out of the total, 45.5% of participants stated that they faced difficulties while their female physician colleagues were on breastfeed-ing leave. In addition, 60.3% of respondents declared to be always supportive of their colleagues with regard to their use of breastfeeding leave. Furthermore, we noted an in-crease in the number of night shifts (negative) and a supportive attitude toward the spouse (positive), and that the status of their spouses using their breastfeeding leaves (positive) affected the male physician’s supportive attitude toward their female physician colleagues. Physician fathers wanted to support their colleagues in using their breastfeed-ing leave; however, they faced an increased amount of work-load. Although the importance of maternity leave for mothers is pretty obvious, the health of the remaining workers should not be ignored.