Breastfeeding: good for mom,
baby, business

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

You’re a new mom who has spent the past few months on maternity leave bonding with your baby through baths and playtime, countless sleepless nights and diaper changes, and precious time spent nursing.

Now, however, it’s time to get back to work, and though that means fewer diapers for you to change, it doesn’t have to mean the end of breastfeeding. With the help of technology, an employer supportive of nursing and a multitude of studies documenting its health benefits, there are plenty of reasons to keep breast milk in your baby’s diet.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants with antibodies to help protect them from bacteria and viruses.

Also, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that studies indicate that infants who are not breastfed have higher incidence of Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, overweight and obesity, high cholesterol and asthma.

For more information on resources listed in this article: U.S. Breastfeeding Committee The group is an alliance of governmental, educational and nonprofit organizations striving “to improve the nation’s health by working collaboratively to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.” Web site: www.usbreastfeeding.org Loving Arms Breastfeeding and Childbirth Education Services Phone: 360-629-0813 E-mail: Lovingarmsconsultant@hotmail.com Web site: www.lovingarmsbreastfeeding.com

Mothers benefit from breastfeeding, too, with studies showing a lower risk of breast and ovarian cancers and possibly a lower risk of osteoporosis after menopause, according to Health & Human Services.

It’s also relaxing for moms because the act of breastfeeding releases the hormone prolactin, which produces a feeling of calm, said Kali McCauley, a registered nurse, certified lactation consultant and owner of Loving Arms Breastfeeding and Childbirth Education Services in Stanwood.

For all its benefits, continuing to breastfeed after a return to work does take some planning.

New mothers need to talk to their employer, “that’s probably the biggest thing,” McCauley said of finding out how supportive of breastfeeding the workplace is.

Will the employer allow job share if you’re not ready to come back full time? Can you work from home? If you are working on site, will the schedule be flexible enough to allow for breaks to express your breast milk? These are questions that need to be addressed before heading back to work.

“Also, you need to make a couple of trial runs; you need to look at a child-care provider even before the baby is born, and you should be talking to your provider about nursing before you deliver,” McCauley said. “You want to find a child-care provider that’s also going to support breastfeeding and is willing to give your baby breast milk, store it, freeze it and warm it up.”

The next issue to nail down is where and how you will express your milk while on the job.

In its issue paper “Workplace Breastfeeding Support,” the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee breaks down the components of on-site milk expression and storage facilities, ranging from “adequate” to “comprehensive.”

At the “adequate” level, employers would provide:

• “A clean, private, comfortable multi-purpose space (that is not a bathroom) with an electrical outlet in order to pump milk or to breastfeed.”
• A table and comfortable chair.
• Sink, soap, water and paper towels. If these cleaning items are not close to the nursing break room, “extra time is allowed for cleaning hands and equipment,” the committee says.

At the other end of the spectrum, the “comprehensive” level, employers also would provide:

• A breastfeeding mothers’ break room, “large enough to accommodate several users comfortably,” for use only by breastfeeding women that would be close to women’s work sites, according to the committee.
• Milk collection kits and additional multi-user electric pumps as needed.
• A small refrigerator in the milk-expression room for storage of the breast milk.

For employers, the benefits of making their workplace “breastfeeding friendly” are numerous, said McCauley, who offers a program, “Pumping in the Workplace,” to teach moms about milk expression and storage and also helps employers set up breast-pumping rooms.

“Most women are happier, so you have higher morale and greater loyalty,” she said. “... It promotes a family-friendly image for the company in the community.”

And then there are the cost savings.

According to the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, companies that have adopted breastfeeding support programs with breast-pumping facilities, proactive breastfeeding policies and workplace education have noted:

• Cost savings of $3 per $1 invested in breastfeeding support.
• Less illness among breastfed children of employees.
• Reduced absenteeism to care for ill children.
• Lower health-care costs.
• Improved employee productivity.

“It is a very big incentive to get women to come and work in your facility, people of child-bearing age,” McCauley said of employers who take proactive breastfeeding measures.

“This is 2006, and we should be supporting what is best for our moms and babies,” she said.

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