Department of Health

 Supporting Our Breastfeeding Moms

The City of St. Louis Department of Health (DOH) is enhancing its support of breastfeeding employees with a lactation room. This new feature at the department provides breastfeeding moms working at the agency a safe, secure, and private place to pump and store their breast milk until it can be transported to their homes. The furnishings for the room were supported in part by a $500 workplace lactation support grant awarded by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Breastfeeding is recognized as the best way to feed an infant in most cases. Current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) include "exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant."

When mom goes back to work, she can experience a decrease in her milk supply if she is unable to express milk during the work day. This could result in less than optimal breastfeeding for her infant. Conversely, having a safe and secure place to express breast milk at work can help to ensure that the mother's milk supply is maintained and supports a longer duration of breastfeeding. This practice supports the recommendation of the AAP and other guidance from health care practitioners to improve infant health.

Federal law also supports breastfeeding. The Fair Labor Standards Act allows a mother to "with discretion, breast-feed her child or express breast milk in any public or private location where the mother is otherwise authorized to be." Although breastfeeding may be accomplished in public, most mothers prefer to do it with privacy. Many work environments are challenged to provide a private environment to do this. Having a room dedicated to this purpose alleviates that concern and is supported by the law.

Currently there are three employees at the DOH who are breastfeeding mothers. There are two additional employees who are expecting and will have need for the room in the near future. Melissa Ramel, a breastfeeding mother says, "knowing that I have a private space for pumping nutrient-rich breast milk makes my job as a working mom a whole lot easier." Nila Garba, another breastfeeding mother comments that, "as the days approached for me to go back to work after my maternity leave, one of my first thoughts was where am I going to pump and not have someone walk in on me?" She was pleased to see there was a lactation room when she returned to work. Garba continues, "knowing that my employer supports breastfeeding mothers like me is encouraging." We commend the DOH for supporting its employees in this vital function to improve the health of infants and mothers!