Working mothers often face challenges such as time constraints, workplace policies, and inadequate maternity leave, which may hinder their ability to practice exclusive breastfeeding. Therefore, this paper assessed the effect of employment status on adoption of exclusive breastfeeding among women in Makurdi Local Government Area. Specifically, the paper examined the challenges that employed mothers encounter in practicing exclusive breastfeeding and explored strategies that can support both employed and unemployed mothers in adopting exclusive breastfeeding.

The paper was anchored on theory of planned behavior. Cross-sectional research design was adopted and data were generated through questionnaire. Clusters, purposive and simple random sampling procedures were used to select 374 respondents from the study area. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The result showed that; employment status plays a significant role in determining a mother’s ability to exclusively breastfeed. Unemployed and self-employed mothers are more likely to sustain exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six months, as they have greater flexibility and fewer work-related constraints. In contrast, employed mothers, particularly those in formal employment, face considerable challenges that make exclusive breastfeeding difficult to sustain. These include demanding work schedules, inadequate workplace support, lack of designated breastfeeding breaks, and short maternity leave periods among others.

The paper therefore, recommended that; there should be implementation of workplace breastfeeding policies, extension of maternity leave, public awareness campaigns on exclusive breastfeeding, community and family support for breastfeeding mothers among others.