Idea of the Day: Increase Breastfeeding Accommodations

Employer supports for breastfeeding women can save companies the health- and absenteeism-related costs of limited breastfeeding options. The federal government should follow the example of states such as California—which mandates that employers need to allow a break and provide a room for a mother who desires to express milk in private—to ensure that employers make an effort to accommodate breastfeeding women.

Solutions can include offering breaks, appropriate and private facilities to pump milk, refrigerated spaces to store milk, individual breast pumps, or on-site daycare to facilitate direct breastfeeding. The Breastfeeding Promotion Act, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), along with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) amendment to the Affordable Health Choices Act promoting accommodation of lactation, can help address this need.

For more on this topic see:

• Labor Pains: Improving Employment and Economic Security for Pregnant Women and New Mothers, by Alexandra Cawthorne and Melissa Alpert.