32 Breastfeeding Moms on What Works at Work

Emily Waldron

Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health

University of Arizona

Background

• Affordable Care Act amended section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.”

• Employers are also required to provide “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.”

Arizona Specific Breastfeeding Policy

• Healthy Arizona Policy Initiative (HAPI)• Promote breastfeeding as a component of worksite wellness

• Strategy 7 of CDC Grant 1305 • Provides resources for ADHS to ensure workplaces are complying

with the federal lactation accommodation law (Section 4207 of the Affordable Care Act)

Internship Goal

Develop a workplace lactation guide designed for county health departments to distribute to local employers to assist with breastfeeding promotion at the workplace.

Objective One

• Perform a literature review to inform policy development recommendations and interview protocol• “The Business Case for Breastfeeding” by the United States

Department of Health and Human Services

• Texas Mother Friendly Worksite Initiative

• Texas Department State Health Services

• CDC Grant Communities Putting Prevention to Work-State and Territory Initiative-Special High Impact Initiative

• Businesses can apply to be designated as mother-friendly

Objective Two

• Develop interview questions, recruit interview participants, and conduct and analyze interviews with 30 women who are currently lactating or have lactated in the past two years • Interview questions developed from HRSA’s The Business Case for

Breastfeeding

• Recruitment Strategy

• Designed a recruitment flyer and distributed the flyer to 10 daycares and preschools in Tucson, Arizona and to lactation consultants at University of Arizona’s Medical Center

• Social Media: “Badass Breastfeeding Tucson Moms” Facebook group

Objective Two Continued

• Interview Methods• Conducted 30 interviews by phone, 2 in-person

• 29 interviews conducted with participants living in Tucson; 3 participants lived in Phoenix

• Answers recorded during the interview and coded immediately following the interview

Objective Three

• Create a handout on the benefits of breastfeeding for ADHS to distribute to Arizona businesses• Return on Investment

• Employee Perspective

• Qualitative Data

• How to Invest in Breastfeeding at Work (based on interview results)

Industry Number of Interviews

Education (University) 7

Non Profit 6

Healthcare 4

Government 4

Retail 2

Education (K-12) 2

Grocery 1

Transportation (Bus Driver)

1

Defense 1

Law 1

Accounting 1

Technology 1

Engineer 1

IntervieweeWorkplace

ResultsOverview

• 32 interviews conducted between June-August 2014

• Average Age: 32.7

• Average months spent pumping at work: 10.06

• 47% of workplaces had a designated lactation space; 53% did not

• 78% of interviewees used a public-shared refrigerator to store breast milk at work (scale of 1-4) 2.8 rating

• Support from colleagues (scale of 1-4): 3.34

• Support from supervisor (scale of 1-4): 3.32

Key Findings

• Three Key Findings• Employee Lactation Breaks

• Employee Lactation Rooms

• Workplace Lactation Education

Employee Lactation Breaks

• Positive• “No questions asked”

• “Took as long as I needed”

• “Trust”

• Negative• “ The only option to pump was in a male supervisor’s office. I had to kick my

supervisor out of his office every time I pumped”

• “Meeting with clients”

• “My lunch break was only 20 minutes long which was not enough time”

Employee Lactation Rooms

• Positive• “Comfortable chairs”

• “Sink in the lactation rooms”

• “Refrigerator for breast milk located in lactation room”

• “Quiet”

• Negative• “Wanted to put us in a bathroom. I had to explain the law to my employer”

• “The curtains on the lactation room were sheer. Co-workers could see”

• “Pumped in the car at off-site meetings”

• “I pumped in the greenroom at school where plants were being grown. Finally demanded a different pumping location when mushrooms began to grow”

Workplace Lactation Education

• Positive• “Online workplace community for new mothers”

• “Respectfulness from co-workers. Nobody has ever said anything”

• “Provided with a ‘back to work’ packet after returning from maternity leave with lactation room locations listed and a ‘know your rights’ insert”

• Negative• “Supervisor said he would not have hired me if he knew I was pregnant.”

• “Colleagues suggested going to the car to pump”

• “My boss asked me if I had a battery pack for my pump so I could use the bathroom to pump”

Next Steps

• Definition of “reasonable time” of the Fair Labor Standards Act

• A venue for employees to anonymously file workplace lactation complaints

• Enforcement of Affordable Care Act policies at the workplace

• Positive recognition for workplaces going above and beyond the basic lactation requirements

• Standardized lactation education for co-workers and employers

Thank You