BREASTFEEDING IN THE WORKPLACE

by Arly Helm

Printed in the Family Post: Summer Issue 2004

In the December issue there was an article about AB1025, a labor law that supports breastfeeding mothers. This follow-up is designed to help you put the law to work for you in your workplace.

You don’t need to lobby your employer to get the benefits of AB1025. It’s already the law. But perhaps you are visibly pregnant, or have just had a baby, and your employer hasn’t yet talked to you about breastfeeding accommodation. It could be that your employer doesn’t know about the law, or mistakenly believes it doesn’t apply to him. Or perhaps he is just too embarrassed to talk about it. Most of these barriers can be eliminated by providing the correct information in an open and friendly fashion. Making arrangements to continue breastfeeding is the right thing to do for your baby, yourself, and your employer. The first women to make use of this law may have to do some education at the workplace, but taking responsibility for speaking and acting in our children’s best interest has always been our responsibility.

If you anticipate difficulty, it is a good idea to submit your request for breastfeeding accommodation in writing, and keep a copy for your own records. You may want to ask your human resources manager, local WIC office, lactation consultant, or shop steward to offer their assistance to your supervisor. Your employer may feel he needs help as much as you do!

Plan to take a breastfeeding break every two hours. Many months down the line, you may go longer than two hours. But planning on two hours ensures you will not risk your health or your ability to breastfeed by trying to go too long between pumpings. If you allow your breasts to become engorged, it will be a signal to your body to slow down milk production, and severe engorgement puts you at risk for infection. Taking the responsibility to prevent engorgement protects you, your baby, and your employer.

In an 8-hour workday, some moms do two short pumpings at the first and third break, and a long pumping at the middle (lunch) break. Others divide their two 15-minute breaks and their hour break into three half-hour breaks for three pumpings of equal length. By law, you may take longer than this to pump, and you may pump more often. However, your employer has the option to consider you “off the time clock” for pumping time that exceeds normal break time. It is in the employer’s best interest to give breastfeeding mothers some leeway in break time since it helps ensure that these employees and their infants are healthier. Overall, fathers and mothers in breastfeeding families have fewer sick days than those in formula-feeding families, saving employers hundreds or thousands of dollars per employee—much more than a few minutes of extra break time will cost.

The place you pump should be private, but should not be a toilet stall. In a fast-food restaurant or supermarket, the only private place may be the manager’s office. Since you will only need it for limited periods, this may be your supervisor’s best choice in order to comply with AB1025. There may be other, more creative choices. Albertson’s of Grass Valley is converting their florist room into a Lactation Room, which is ideal because it already has a sink, electrical power, refrigerator, and a door. Other workplaces have put a door on their break room and a sign to temporarily make it off-limits when employees are pumping. Look around—is there a storage room that could be cleaned up and converted with the addition of lamps and soft chairs?

AB1025 was written to improve health in our community, but it will only be successful if women and their employers ensure the law is followed. This is a good law—use it!

Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC is an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant with a Master's of Science in Nutrition. She has a private practice in Nevada County, and is a consultant to California's Breastfeeding: Best Practices and WIC programs. She lives with her husband of 25 years and their two formerly breastfed sons.