Pros of Inclusivity: Has Your Workplace Implemented Nursing Stations?
Pros of Inclusivity: has your workplace defined a family friendly setting for breastfeeding mothers? If so, how do they designate a nursing area where you can breastfeed or pump? If not, have you ever attempted to reach out to Human Resources or ask your boss for more inclusivity for breastfeeding mothers who pump? I can say there is still progress to be made.
In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act, amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 requires employers to provide non-exempt employees with a reasonable break times to express breast milk for up to one year following the child’s birth [1]. Not all states utilize this act, while some states have enacted more laws to expansive lactation breaks while employers routinely are falling short of full compliance to breastfeeding mothers [1]. The improvisations that one should consider in your workplace, are [1]:
Evaluate employer’s coverage status
Provide a private space
Be flexible with time
Compare existing rest break policies
Implement and communicate a policy
What stuck out to me in providing a private space for a breastfeeding mother, are the requirements to have it as a ‘proper’ lactation space. It needs to include a sink, supplies for washing and drying equipment, a refrigerator to store breast milk and a comfortable chair near electrical outlets for powering the electric breast pump. WOW. That sounds like a lot, but every component is necessary for a proper lactation room.
What are the pros of breastfeeding from an employer standpoint? There are many benefits of breastfeeding in the workplace that can make your employer change their mind for accommodating breastfeeding mothers [2]. Breastfeeding can save money for the mother who is breastfeeding and for the company that is trying to maintain their status quo for the year.
• Breastfeeding employees miss work less often because breastfed infants are healthier
• Breastfeeding lowers health care costs
• Breastfeeding support helps employers keep their best employees so that less money is spent hiring and training new employees
• Breastfeeding employees who are supported in the workplace report higher productivity and loyalty
• Supporting breastfeeding employees creates a positive public image This adds to the motivation of including lactation rooms in the workplace.
Due to the emphasis of companies who have administered breastfeeding stations in the workplace, 84 percent of infants are ever breastfed and 25 percent are breastfed exclusively through six months [3]. There is a big gap from the ones who are exclusively breastfed vs. ever breastfed. Now this choice could be personally for the moms themselves or still limited by law. Although all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have laws that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location, only 32 states, DC and Puerto Rico have laws related to breastfeeding in the workplace. The following states are as followed: • Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming
Now looking at the PROS and benefits of lactation rooms and the continuance of breastfeeding, can you say your workplace is with the initiative? Or are they against the idea of lactation rooms. An outside company, titled Mamava offers a lactation space design that makes it convenient for mothers to nurse at the workplace [4]. Three benefits that Mamava brings: 1) there’s a secure app-entry strictly for moms only, 2) Mamavas are easy to sanitize, and 3) with 35 air changes per hour, Mamavas are well ventilated. You can find Mamavas in various industries besides the corporate workplace as a benefit. To find a Mamava closest to you, visit here.
What we can learn from this blog post/op-ed is that inclusivity of breastfeeding in the workplace or in public is growing for breastfeeding mothers so they are not critiqued for doing what is right for themselves and their infants: breastfeeding and/or nursing their baby for a healthier lifestyle and inclusion from society. In the end, breastfeeding wins.
By Evalina C. Ikpoh, MPH