What Working Breastfeeding Mothers Need
By: Sascha Mayer, Mamava Cofounder
Breastfeeding has compelling benefits for both babies and mothers—which is why both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continued breastfeeding (along with complimentary food) for up to two years when possible. In the United States, 83% of new infants start out receiving some human breast milk, by three months only 45 percent are exclusively breastfeeding. At six months the rate plummets to 25%. There are many reasons a mother might stop breastfeeding: a milk supply that doesn’t match a baby’s demand, a medical consideration, wanting physical independence. But perhaps one of the biggest barriers to breastfeeding is returning to work.
The reality today, however, is that the vast majority of women work, with 70.4% of women with children under 5 in the workforce. For working mothers, breastfeeding usually means pumping—several times a day—to maintain milk supply. Yet too many workplaces still fail to provide the logistical and cultural support breastfeeding employees need at work. Which helps explain why working full-time at three months postpartum is associated with a significantly shorter breastfeeding duration.
The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines for supporting breastfeeding employees suggests working part-time, telecommuting, or having on-site childcare so workers can breastfeed during the work day. But for most working parents—particularly those in lower paying jobs with little flexibility—these options are rarely feasible. Without a federal paid family leave policy, many new breastfeeding parents can’t afford to stay home with their babies for more than a couple of weeks. In fact, according to one study, one in four mothers returns to work within two weeks of giving birth.
Breastfeeding is often framed as a personal choice—and it is. But it’s also what sociologists Katherine M. Johnson and Colleen Salpini call a “constrained choice”—one that's affected by a variety of structural factors. Given the challenges facing working mothers, it’s no wonder 60 percent of mothers say they do not breastfeed for as long as they intended to. For breastfeeding employees to succeed at meeting breastfeeding recommendations, they need the following four conditions.
Time to pump breast milk
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act requires all employers to provide reasonable break time to pump. While the length of a pumping session differs from person to person, research suggests that 30 minutes is fairly standard. Breastfeeding employees generally need to pump every three to four hours, which may not seem like a big deal if you’re in a private office and can multitask. But consider the nurse making her rounds in an intensive care unit. The factory worker on quality control. The convenience store clerk who works nights. These employees need coverage to take the pumping breaks necessary to maintain their milk supply.
A space to pump
The FLSA PUMP Act also requires employers to provide breastfeeding employees with a private lactation space that is not a bathroom. This legal mandate is better than nothing, but leaves much room for improvement. Many workplaces cobble together temporary solutions: storage closets, conference rooms, or borrowed offices. Such makeshift spaces feel subpar and convey the tacit message that breastfeeding is neither welcomed nor supported. A truly accommodating lactation room requires thoughtful consideration: if it’s 20 floors away from the person who needs it, or shared by a fleet of other employees who need to pump, it may not make pumping easier.
A supportive workplace culture
Traditional workspaces were designed for the needs of workers, most of whom have historically been able-bodied men. As the workforce changes, however, our workplaces must change too. This means looking at the physical space of a workplace to assess how it meets (or doesn’t) the needs of breastfeeding employees. It also means examining organizational policies and social atmosphere. A breastfeeding-positive workplace has a written lactation accommodation policy in place to ensure that all employees—not just those breastfeeding—understand and support the logistics of pumping at work. In fact, research shows how important co-worker support can be in a mother’s decision to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.
A society committed to normalizing breastfeeding
Cultural change takes time. But American society has a long history of evolving to become more inclusive and more equitable. Conceivably, workplace support of breastfeeding will trickle down to individuals and help shift our cultural norms to the point at which breastfeeding in public will no longer be news, but accepted as the positive and nourishing human behavior that it is.
The benefits of breastfeeding are clear. So is the reality that many parents, particularly those working outside of the home, don’t have the support they need to meet their breastfeeding goals. In addition to federal labor laws like the PUMP Act and redesigning workspaces that meet the physiological needs of all employees, we also need progressive policies that recognize and support the reality of new parenthood like paid family leave. The more our culture recognizes and understands the challenges working parents face—the more we can come together on solutions that truly make breastfeeding more optimistic and accessible for all.
Mamava designs solutions to empower breastfeeding and pumping parents on the go, like our freestanding lactation pods, Mamava’s lactation space locator app, and other helpful resources.
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