Breastfeeding rooms hidden in health care law

[Writer]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/09/breast.feeding.society/

With her 5-week-old daughter crying in a bathroom at Nordstrom, and not knowing how to get the baby to latch on to her breast, Garima Nahar found herself surrounded by other women. Some offered tips, but one woman told the new mother to cover up or turn the other way.

"I had to kind of hide my tears and just be brave in front of her, because, you know what, 'I have a crying baby and I don't want to deal with you right now,' " said Nahar, a software manager in Chicago, Illinois.

Women across America have felt uncomfortable in public situations when breastfeeding their children. Sarah Hood of Fayetteville, Arkansas, who works in advertising, got stares when breastfeeding her son in the open.

Working mothers like Nahar and Hood have had to carefully tailor their schedules so that they can pump milk in the middle of the day, and avoid stares when they put bottles in the communal refrigerators. Some have to use a bathroom stall to pump milk, as there is no other space available.

Nursing mothers will now get additional support, thanks to page 1239 of the health care bill that President Obama recently signed into law. It requires employers to provide "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk." Only companies with less than 50 employees can claim it's an undue hardship.

(more at link)

[Warpy]

1. I have a friend who immigrated from Europe with a newborn

When she got off the plane and found out there were no mothers and children's rooms to feed and change babies, she very nearly turned around and headed for home.

For all the pious mouthing about mothers and babies, the powers that be treat them like shit in this country.

[Tumbulu]

7. Boy Warpy, you are so right (nt)

[Hekate]

2. Kick and Rec. I wonder what ELSE is "hidden" in this anything-but-heinous bill?

:toast: to whoever got that in there

Hekate

[dkf]

3. Don't they just need one of those covers?

My sister would breastfeed her baby in the car or whereever. It works pretty well.

[Skittles]

4. simple solutions are not allowed, dkf

[havocmom]

6. With all the pashima shawls one can find...

Honestly, a light shawl works just fine for nursing, just about anywhere. Now, pumping, would be a bit trickier.

[LeftyMom]

8. Do bottlefeeding parents have to hide under a blanket or in a car to feed their kids?

Nobody should EVER feel shamed or need to hide for giving their child the best possible start.

[Egnever]

9. Agreed however

I would say if they were not ashamed to begin with they wouldnt be bothered by looks.

[TheMadMonk]

10. Avoids the problem of dickhead truckies leaning on their horn. nt

[elleng]

13. Yes and No,

which just proves to me that we (in the U.S.) are conflicted about sex-related matters. Thats the way it is, and we've got to live with it, as most of us do.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Not all babies want to eat under a blanket or a cover.

The bottom line is, it's hard enough to successfully breastfeed under ideal circumstances, and the lifetime health benefits for babies are so irrefutably clear--- we should be doing anything and everything to encourage women to breastfeed their babies.

The people who are bent out of shape about it, act like it's an imposition on them:shrug:, or say things like "can't you just go to the bathroom?" really need to educate themselves about the issue.

[JDPriestly]

14. I used receiving blankets over my shoulder and under the baby.

No problem at all.

[tammywammy]

5. We have lactation stations where I work

They just put one in the next building over (though most buildings already had them, we're in these modular ones and were the last to get it). They cleaned out a janitors closet, painted it, put in a bar/table along one wall, a comfy chair and a mini fridge. It also locks from the inside, and a sliding sign or "in use" and "open". My mom said the one in her building (we work at the same company) has a loveseat sofa and a chair.

And this is a typically "conservative" company/industry. Makes sense, and I know we have two women on our program that are pumping right now.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Excellet. The people who insist we're obligated to hate this bill won't like hearing it, but,

Good news. :thumbsup:

[Heywood J]

15. Uh, wouldn't the easier solution be maternity leave?

Five weeks after birth sounds like she should be there already. I can only imagine the effect of a crying baby on productivity in the surrounding area.

[Warpy]

16. Kids really need to be fed breast milk for six months

and five weeks only insures all the injuries she suffered giving birth have healed.

She needs a place to pump out her breast milk for that baby at home. The toilet just isn't going to do it, buster.

[Heywood J]

17. Sorry, I'm originally from somewhere

where maternity leave was a year. I was imagining something longer than five weeks.