142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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From then until now: 20 years of progress in supporting nursing mothers at a large public university in the Midwest

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Laura Duckett, BSN, MS, PhD, MPH, RN , School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Teresa Schicker, BA, MPA , Medical School, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Background: In 1994, a faculty member and graduate student opened a well-equipped nursing mothers’ room (NMR).  Gradually additional NMRs were opened in various schools/departments.  There was no campus-wide plan or way to communicate with nursing mothers.  Meanwhile, researchers continued to document the negative impact of employment on breastfeeding duration and exclusiveness.  The U.S. Affordable Care Act of 2010 and statutes in many states require that employers provide break time and space where women can express breast milk in privacy.   

Objectives: (1) Create campus-wide infrastructure and allocate resources to ensure clean, private space for lactating women to pump.  (2) Open NMRs in enough locations so that all nursing mothers can reach a NMR within 10 minutes.

Methods: Strategies used included: surveys; a campus-wide ad hoc Breastfeeding Advocacy Committee with student, staff, faculty, human resources, and facilities management participants; and actions by the university Social Concerns Committee and University Senate.

Results: Surveys documented the value of one NMR on campus to its users and discontinuation of breastfeeding by nursing mothers who lacked access to a NMR.  The Lactation Advocacy Committee has provided a forum for stakeholders to discuss the status of and goals for lactation support on campus, and created a web site listing the 20 existing NMRs, locations, amenities, and contact persons.  The Social Concerns Committee approved and forwarded a strongly worded “Resolution to Implement Lactation Support Action” to the University Senate; the senate passed it on October 3, 2013.

Conclusions: Much has been accomplished but much remains to be done.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Environmental health sciences
Occupational health and safety
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Describe the actions taken over 20 years by a wide group of collaborators to create a more lactation friendly environment for nursing mothers working or studying on a large university campus. Evaluate how successful strategies used in one university setting could be adapted for use in other employment and school settings.

Keyword(s): Breastfeeding, Workplace

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have published research about breastfeeding and maternal employment. A graduate student and I opened the first nursing mothers' room (NMR) on campus Fall 1994, and I have operated that NMR since then. Student collaborators and I have conducted periodic surveys of users of that NMR. I am serving on the campus-wide Ad Hoc Lactation Advocacy Committee and the University Social Concerns Committee. I co-authored the lactation support resolution passed recently by the University Senate.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4385.0: Poster Session: Practices and providers that impact breastfeeding outcomes