1511cf66_all_To_Action_on_Breastfeeding__Topic
[ID] 902 [Interest Areas] Concerned Citizen Health Care Provider [Comment] My employer has a mother's room for use and allowed me to take as much time as I needed for the purpose of expressing milk when I returned from maternity leave. The mother's room was private (one person at a time in a dedicated location) and it had a rocking chair, a refrigerator exlusively used for storing milk and cubbies for each woman to place her pumping supplies, etc. I used the room initially four times a day without any problems whatsoever. I was allowed to arrange my work schedule around my pumping needs and was not docked any pay for the time I was using the mother's room. I believe these benefits provided to me by my employer were crucial to avoiding the use of any formula throughout my daughter's life! The privacy of the mother's room setting let me actually relax and focus, so I pumped a large amount of milk and never saw a dip in my supply. I also could be assured of the sanitation of the milk I collected and maintain my own privacy by not having to put it in a more public refrigerator or risk spoiling by having to figure out my own arrangement with icepacks. Currently, too many employers say they provide similar things but everyone knows you really shouldn't ask for it and it is privately discouraged in political ways on the job. These services need to not only be provided for women at work but the penalites for using them need also to be taken away. [Topic] 
Worksite Lactation Support, Onsite Child Care, and Milk Expression
Call To Action on Breastfeeding
Topic