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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Karen Meehan, MPH, RD, IBCLC¹, Gail G. Harrison, PhD², Shannon E. Whaley, PhD³, Abdelmonem Afifi, PhD², Anthony Ramirez, BA², and Eloise Jenks, MEd, RD⁴. (1) PHFE-WIC Program, 12781 Schabarum Avenue, Irwindale, CA 91706, 626 856 6650, karen@phfewic.org, (2) UCLA Center for Helath Policy Research, UCLA School of Public Health, 10911 Weyburn Avenue, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (3) Special Projects Division, PHFE-WIC, 12781 Schabarum Ave., Irwindale, CA 91706, (4) Executive Director, PHFE-WIC Program, 12781 Schabarum Avenue, Irwindale, CA 91706

The PHFE-WIC Program initiated the Working Women Pump Program (WWPP) in response to short breastfeeding duration rates for WIC participants returning to work. The goals of this program are to provide a breastpump to support exclusive breastfeeding after returning to work and to ensure support in the workplace. Women give PHFE-WIC permission to contact their employers. Accommodations are discussed with employers and information is provided to them on supporting breastfeeding in the workplace, including the California Lactation Accommodation Law. In order to assess the impact of the WWPP on duration of exclusive breastfeeding (defined here as not requesting formula from WIC), we compared a sample of 81 mothers who received an electric pump on return to full-time work to waitlist control groups of women who received an electric pump later (N=92), or not at all, due to pump availability (N=33). Mothers who received a pump as soon as requested exclusively breastfed an average of 9.25 months, while those who did not receive the intervention exclusively breastfed an average of 4.8 months. (p<.0001). Working mothers who received an electric pump early were 5.5 times more likely than those who did not receive the intervention to exclusively breastfeed for at least six months. In California the rights of women to pump in the workplace are already protected. Our program demonstrates clearly that contact with employers and provision of breastpumps are both vital to ensure women have the means and support to exercise their right to pump in the workplace.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.List three components of the PHFE-WIC Working Women Pump Program
• 2.Recognize the impact the PHFE-WIC Working Women Pump Program has had on exclusive breastfeeding rates.
• 3.Identify the elements of the PHFE-WIC Working Women Pump Program that could be replicated in other breastfeeding programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No