Laws
regarding pumping in the workplace:
- When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010 it amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide more support for women returning to work and wishing to continue breastfeeding (United States Department of Labor, 2015).
- Employers need to provide space other than a bathroom; that is free from intrusion and shielded from view of the public and coworkers for nonexempt (hourly) employees (United States Department of Labor, 2015).
**Legally it does not have to be a permanent
space dedicated to lactation but a clean space meeting the above criteria needs
to be provided.
·
Moms
pump in various places depending on their type of work and their schedule, some
places include but are not limited to:
o
Designated
lactation room
o
Personal
car
o
Empty
conference room or office space (may change from day to day depending on
availability)
o
Empty
classroom
o
Cleared
storage closets
o
Home
(for those who work from home)
·
Employers
must also accommodate mothers and provide “reasonable” break time in order for
the mother to express breast milk until their infant is 1 year old.
Companies
with less than 50 employees may file an exemption due to undue hardship but
they would have to prove that the breaks the mother is taking will be a
financial burden on the company (United States Department of Labor, 2015).Ways
to accommodate a room if one is not specified for lactation:
o
Place
a curtain and rod in front of windows or in a corner to make a private space.
o
Hang
a sign on the door “pumping in session”
o
Use
a nursing cover while pumping in the car
More about
Pumping and Employment can be found at Kellymom.com, a great resource with
great information! http://kellymom.com/category/bf/pumpingmoms/
Has your place of work made
appropriate accommodations? If you are not covered by the federal law you may
be covered by state laws, contact the Lehigh Valley Breastfeeding Coalition;
they can help you talk to an employer about becoming compliant at little or no
cost. The coalition can speak on your behalf and work with your employer to
meet FLSA standards. Visit http://www.lehighvalleybreastfeeding.com/employers
to find helpful information for
employers!
You can also call The US Department of Labor, Wage and Hours
Division, at the toll-free WHD number 1-800-487-9243. You will be
directed to your nearest office and they can help with enforcement of the
“Break Time for Nursing Mothers” law to make sure you are receiving the time
you need to express milk.
Why is it good for your employer to support breastfeeding
mothers?
- Statistically breastfed children are sick less often which means you miss less days of work. One day absences to care for sick children happen twice as often for formula fed infants.
- Women are the fastest growing division in the work force and almost ¾ of women in the work force have children under the age of three.
- Breastfeeding reduces medical costs for mother and baby.
- Supporting breastfeeding drastically increases retention rates.
- Employers are eligible for tax credits based on them having a breastfeeding friendly work environment.
(Rush, 2014)
Do you have
a love/hate relationship with your pump? Ways to RELAX and maximize your
pumping session:
·
Keep
a picture of your baby in your pump bag
·
Keep
a piece of clothing that smells like your child with you while pumping
·
Have
a video on your phone of your baby crying or laughing to listen to while
pumping
·
Listen
to soothing music or distract yourself with an activity
·
Use
imagery, imagine yourself playing with your child or holding your child.
Tips for
pumping:
·
Stay
hydrated!
·
Eat
a well-balanced diet; breastfeeding moms need an additional 300-500 calories!
·
Know
your flange size; a decrease in milk production could be caused by flanges that
are too big or too small.
·
If
your nipples hurt, the pump pressure may be too high, pumping should
not be painful. Some lanolin cream or oil can be applied to nipples during
pumping sessions if nipples are sore.
·
Wear
a pumping bra or cut holes in a sports bra over the nipples to hold flanges in
place so your hands will be free.
·
Adjusting
the pressure throughout a session can initiate another let down and increase
output.
·
Hand
expression can often times have better results than an electric pump, if your
body is not responding to the pump try some breast massage and hand expression.
Video on hand expression: http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/HandExpression.html
Tear sheet from LLL on hand
expression:
Know you flange size!
Try not to stress about the quantity
that you are pumping. Breastfed babies generally eat less per feed then formula
fed babies; your body will produce what your child needs (think: supply and demand). A pump is also not a
good indicator of your actual supply, a well latched baby is always better than
any pump. Stressing about the quantity of milk being pumped can inhibit the
release of oxytocin which subsequently prevents the milk let down.
Explore the FAQ page and articles from New Beginnings, the bimonthly publication from LLL USA regarding breastfeeding and pumping at work: http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbpumping.html
See the FAQ
page on the LVBC website for additional sources and information regarding
pumping and employment, pumping tips, and pump maintenance: http://www.lehighvalleybreastfeeding.com/faqs/pumping
Contributed by Jennifer Abdul-Rahman, LLL leader of Lehigh County
References:
Rush, C.
(2014). The benefits of workplace support for breastfeeding. 1 Million for Work Flexibility. Retrieved
from http://www.workflexibility.org/benefits-of-workplace-support-for-breastfeeding/
United
States Department of Labor. (2015). Break time for nursing mothers. Wage and Hour Division. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/whd/nursingmothers/.
