by Amy Spangler
May 14, 2008

Did you know that women with infants and children are one of the fastest growing segments of the work force in the United States (U.S.)? It’s estimated that 70 percent of women with children under 3 years of age work full time. And one-third of mothers return to work within three months after giving birth.

At the same time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the mothers exclusively breastfeed for six months and continue to breastfeed for at least a year. But if you think that full-time employment and exclusive breastfeeding are compatible, think again. Lack of support in the workplace is consistently identified as a barrier to breastfeeding, especially among low-income women.

Each year Working Mother Magazine selects the 100 Best Companies in the U.S. for working women. In 2006, only 8 percent of the companies selected, provided as much as 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. This despite the AAP recommendation that babies be exclusively breastfed for 24 weeks.

HRSA releases resource kit
In an effort to improve support for breastfeeding in the workplace, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has recently released a resource kit, The Business Case for Breastfeeding.

The resource kit targets employers, human resource managers, employees, lactation consultants, and others involved in outreach with local businesses. The kit includes five major components, including: (1) The Business Case for Breastfeeding booklet; (2) Easy Steps to Supporting Breastfeeding Employees; (3) Tool Kit (including a CD-ROM with reproducible program implementation and promotion components); (4) Employees’ Guide to Breastfeeding and Working; and (5) Outreach Marketing Guide (including a CD-ROM with reproducible materials that can be used in supporting working mothers and conducting outreach with businesses). Copies are available free of charge through the HRSA Information Center at 1-888-ASK-HRSA or online.

Training opportunities
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has announced a training and technical assistance initiative to assist state breastfeeding coalitions and Healthy Start communities in conducting outreach with local businesses. Representatives from 10 state breastfeeding coalitions were trained in January 2008 and are now conducting follow-up trainings for IBCLCs (International Board Certified Lactation Consultants) and others in their state who would like to participate in the effort. The 10 states include California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah.

In addition, trainings will be conducted in six Healthy Start communities, including: Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Dublin, Georgia; Fresno, California; and Michigan Inter-Tribal Agency.

The State Breastfeeding Coalitions and Healthy Start sites are conducting a search for IBCLCs in their state/community who are interested in attending the training effort or assisting with the worksite outreach efforts the states are conducting. If you are interested, please contact your state breastfeeding coalition to learn more!

The fact remains, women can do it all, they just can’t do it all at once.