breastfeeding discrimination in the workplace

[turnipmama]

I have not had this problem, but I have heard from several women in my husband's family that they chose formula over breastfeeding because they could not get the time or place to pump while working...how sad! Is there any legislation in place or pending that requires employers to allow working mothers to pump at work? Its so sad that so many women are simply not allowed by their employers to breastfeed!

[My4Boys]

Yes! Here's some info -

Subject: [lactivism] Next steps in advancing the Breastfeeding Promotion Act-please spread to all breastfeeding and mother friendly lists and boards and organizations


To all working to advance the cause of breastfeeding workplace protections:

The Breastfeeding Promotion Act, HR 2122, was reintroduced in the House
of Representatives on May 10th with Reps. Maloney(NY), Shays(CT) and
Elison(freshman from MN) attending the press conference. Now it needs
two things to move it along.

*1)It needs /_more cosponsors_/! At present only 28 representatives have
cosigned. Bills generate more interest and get hearings faster when
they have many, many cosponsors. If your representative is not a
cosponsor, you need to ask him or her to do so. Gather up a bunch of
your fellow mothers in your district and have them all call and write to
the representative and ask them to sign on as a cosponsor. I went to my
representative's office and got into an interesting dialogue with two of
his aides about why he has not signed on and asked them to bring it to
his attention. Below is a link to the list of current cosponsors:*

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquer...9:HR02122:@@@P

If your representative is not a cosponsor, then go to the www.house.gov
website and find out who your rep is with the Find your Rep link and get
his or her contact phone number and email. Send them an email from his
or her webpage telling them this is important to you. Ask your rep to
cosponsor ASAP. Get your friends and neighbors to do so as well. Call
back a couple weeks later and ask them if they have done so. If they
have not write and mail and actual letter to your rep. Tell him or her
exactly why the BPA is important. Here are some talking points you can
adapt for your communications:

/-Women are quitting breastfeeding far earlier than the Surgeon General
and all medical authorities say is best for babies.
-There are no federal workplace protections for breastfeeding mothers in
American and patchwork state laws are not proving strong enough.
-Women are being told they can't pump, are not being given breaks to do
so, are having to pump in bathrooms, are getting charged extra fees
for breastmilk at some daycare chains all around the country, are
getting fired for trying to be both good mothers and good workers.
-Having a civil right to breastfeed in the law will reach and teach
American workers where they spend most of their days and more quickly
create a
breastfeeding friendly culture that will help meet the Surgeon
General's Healthy People 2010 goals for improving breastfeeding rates.
-There is no downside to improving the health of babies and mothers!
-Creating support for long term breastfeeding will eventually lower
healthcare costs for infants and children across the board./

If your representative_ is _a cosponsor send an email to thank them and
ask them to talk and encourage their colleagues to sign on as well.

*2) Rep. Lynn Woolsey is now the chairperson of the Subcommittee on
Workforce Protections that must have a hearing on the bill before it can
be voted out of the committee and have a chance for a full vote of the
House. She is a cosponsor and favorable to the bill, but we need you
all to send her emails, call and fax/write letters asking her to hold a
hearing on the bill sooner than later! We especially need her to hear
from a lot of her constituents in the Marin and Sonoma California areas
to get in touch with her. Use the above talking points along with the
fact that we have waited seven years to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion
Act and in that time millions of mothers have not had adequate
legislative support, which would make the choice to breastfeed/pump
simple and easy to do. Ask her/her aides to tell us when we will get
the hearing we need. Do this before the end of May. Make it a priority
to make these contacts with her and with your own representative. Often
the Representatives webpage won't allow those who do not live in the zip
codes in her district send an email. If are not one of her constituents
you can use the following contact info to call, fax or mail a letter.
**Washington DC Office:
**2263 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Ph.: 202-225-5161
Fax: [phone]*

We have a really strong chance at passage with this 110th Congress if we
can make a strong showing by communicating to all the representatives
that we want this bill to be heard and voted upon this year. Half the
country are women and most are mothers. Surely we can muster enough of
our communities so that every one of the 535 representatives can hear
from more than one constituent on behalf of this bill, HR 2122 The
Breastfeeding Promotion Act.

Thank you for your support

[CrunchyBikerMama]

Thank you for posting this info. I just posted on the Breastfeeding forum about what I go through to pump at work. I have to find an empty office and hide underneath the desk in order to have some privacy (there are glass walls.) It is no mystery to me why so many women give up bf upon returning to work. IMO, employers are foolish not to promote bf. I bet mothers would have a lot less time out of work with sick babies if they could continue to bf.

[AuntNi]

The last two places my DH has worked, pumping moms were definitely discriminated against. It burns him up, because he's a good little lactivist DH who gently tries to encourages expectant moms to bf. He hears everyone sniping about the time moms spend pumping. Nobody complains about the people taking smoke breaks/long lunches, however. :

[tessie]

I'd push for longer paid maternity leave instead. I was gobsmacked when I discovered how short leave is in the US.

I've never met a woman who needed to pump at work - probably because you can take a year off here and most babies at a year don't feed so regularly that the mother needs to pump at work.

[CrunchyBikerMama]

I agree with you, tessie. A lot of the pumping at work issues would go away if we had a decent maternity leave policy in the US. Six weeks unpaid leave is inhumane on so many levels.

[turnipmama]

thanks for the info! I will have to pass it along...I also agree that what we REALLY need is longer paid maternity leave - 6 wks is a joke - and I know women in my field with 2 or more kids who are way more productive in their careers and have gotten much farther than others with no kids or spouses - so their is no reason we shouldn't get longer leave! hmm....maybe this calls for a letter to my congress people...like they'd listen though:

[Claire and Boys]

We get 6 months here, but still, there are no laws re. pumping at work. I am a civil servant, and in a day 9-4 I was allowed 1 30 min break to pump, and that left me with no other breaks in the day (no tea, no lunch) I had to go and sit in the first aid room where people came in and out all the time, so I put a curtain around me. Before I went on mat. leave this time, my boss told me that I would only be allowed 1 15 min break this time as they changed the rules.
I am still in two minds as to whether I am going back.

[tallulahma]

Originally Posted by AuntNi

The last two places my DH has worked, pumping moms were definitely discriminated against. It burns him up, because he's a good little lactivist DH who gently tries to encourages expectant moms to bf. He hears everyone sniping about the time moms spend pumping. Nobody complains about the people taking smoke breaks/long lunches, however. :

I agree. im a nurse and worked 12+ hrs while pregnant. Id get snide comments about pee/snack breaks... but no one ever said anything about the smokers!!!

I said, I should just tell them im going to smoke instead : !

Pumping should be protected... plus longer maternity. hands down. it makes for a better society.