Welcoming Breastfeeding Mothers at Work

What better way to welcome a mother back to work than supporting her during her breastfeeding journey? Make mom feel welcomed by reducing the stress that comes with meeting her baby’s needs while working. According to research, mothers are 2.5 times more likely to breastfeed where breastfeeding is protected, promoted and supported. Working mothers have a lot on their plate. Often times they are trying to juggle various responsibilities at once. How can we be sure to support moms in the workplace? One way is to educate ourselves on how the needs of nursing moms can be met in the workplace. Nursing mothers will need a safe place to pump. Reasonable accommodations can be made by providing:

-Space

-Time

-Privacy

Federal law ensures that women have basic accommodations during the working period including reasonable time to express milk during the work day and private space that is not a bathroom. Since there are many benefits to accommodating nursing mothers, it would be efficient to incorporate breast feeding friendly ideas into workplace policy. Motherhood nurtures many new skills such as organization, time management, the ability to multitask and engineer creative ideas. These are skills that employers value. Supporting nursing mothers can prove to be lucrative for business, producing results such as lower absenteeism rates, higher retention rates, lower healthcare costs and insurance claims, higher productivity and loyalty among workers.

For more information on creating a breastfeeding friendly workplace, visit http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/employer-solutions/