You can support your patients in continuing to breastfeed/chestfeed after returning to the workplace by helping them get what they need to express or “pump” breast milk during the workday. Many workers in the U.S. return to work relatively soon after childbirth, often due to economic necessity. Your patients may face obstacles that make it difficult to continue breastfeeding. Here’s what you need to know to help.
Breastfeeding workers typically need to express milk using a breast pump 2–3 times during an 8-hour workday (or 3–4 times in a 12-hour shift) to maintain their milk production and avoid health complications. Many work under circumstances where they do not have the flexibility to take breaks without permission, and therefore must assert their legal rights–often with the help of a care provider.
Employees who are breastfeeding require private space that is free from intrusion where they can relax and pump. Most do not have an office with a door and require special permission to use a private space. Managers may not understand that breast milk is food that should not be prepared in a bathroom.
Studies indicate that 60% of women do not have both the time and the space needed to express breast milk in their workplace. Women who did have the time and space to pump were 2.3 times more likely to be breastfeeding exclusively at 6 months.
Doctors and other health care providers can help their patients continue breastfeeding after their return to work by:
1. Talking to them about breastfeeding at work. Encourage your patient to make a plan for pumping at work, and to speak with their employer about their needs before returning. Under federal law, lactating workers have legal rights to break time and a non-bathroom space to pump. Workers may be entitled to additional accommodations in many instances.
2. Writing an effective work note. If your patient anticipates or experiences difficulty with their employer, a note from a care provider can help them get break time and space for pumping. Work notes are also helpful for lactating employees with needs beyond lactation break time and space.
Read our factsheet for more about workplace breastfeeding accommodations, your patients’ rights, and how you can help.
Download our sample workplace accommodation note.
View Breastfeeding Works for information and tools you need to counsel breastfeeding workers and students. This expert webinar covers the national and state laws that protect breastfeeding parents from discrimination, and the laws that require lactation accommodations at work and school. The webinar offers practical guidance on what lactation consultants and other healthcare providers can do to best support their patients, including how to write effective work notes.
This webinar was co-sponsored by the Center for WorkLife Law, along with A Better Balance, the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, International Childbirth Education Association, La Leche League USA, National WIC Association, Reaching our Sisters Everywhere, United States Breastfeeding Committee, and United States Lactation Consultant Association.
To ask questions or invite an expert to present on lactation accommodations at your healthcare institution, contact us at (415)565-4640.
You may refer your patients to the Center for WorkLife Law’s free legal hotline: [email protected] or (415) 703-8276.
