32 Breastfeeding Moms on What Works at Work Emily Waldron Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public...

32 Breastfeeding Moms on What Works at Work

Emily Waldron

Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health

University of Arizona

Background

• Affordable Care Act amended section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.”

• Employers are also required to provide “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.”

Arizona Specific Breastfeeding Policy

• Healthy Arizona Policy Initiative (HAPI)• Promote breastfeeding as a component of worksite wellness

• Strategy 7 of CDC Grant 1305 • Provides resources for ADHS to ensure workplaces are complying

with the federal lactation accommodation law (Section 4207 of the Affordable Care Act)

Internship Goal

Develop a workplace lactation guide designed for county health departments to distribute to local employers to assist with breastfeeding promotion at the workplace.

Objective One

• Perform a literature review to inform policy development recommendations and interview protocol• “The Business Case for Breastfeeding” by the United States

Department of Health and Human Services

• Texas Mother Friendly Worksite Initiative

• Texas Department State Health Services

• CDC Grant Communities Putting Prevention to Work-State and Territory Initiative-Special High Impact Initiative

• Businesses can apply to be designated as mother-friendly

Objective Two

• Develop interview questions, recruit interview participants, and conduct and analyze interviews with 30 women who are currently lactating or have lactated in the past two years • Interview questions developed from HRSA’s The Business Case for

Breastfeeding

• Recruitment Strategy

• Designed a recruitment flyer and distributed the flyer to 10 daycares and preschools in Tucson, Arizona and to lactation consultants at University of Arizona’s Medical Center

• Social Media: “Badass Breastfeeding Tucson Moms” Facebook group

Objective Two Continued

• Interview Methods• Conducted 30 interviews by phone, 2 in-person

• 29 interviews conducted with participants living in Tucson; 3 participants lived in Phoenix

• Answers recorded during the interview and coded immediately following the interview

Objective Three

• Create a handout on the benefits of breastfeeding for ADHS to distribute to Arizona businesses• Return on Investment

• Employee Perspective

• Qualitative Data

• How to Invest in Breastfeeding at Work (based on interview results)

Industry Number of Interviews

Education (University) 7

Non Profit 6

Healthcare 4

Government 4

Retail 2

Education (K-12) 2

Grocery 1

Transportation (Bus Driver)

1

Defense 1

Law 1

Accounting 1

Technology 1

Engineer 1

IntervieweeWorkplace

ResultsOverview

• 32 interviews conducted between June-August 2014

• Average Age: 32.7

• Average months spent pumping at work: 10.06

• 47% of workplaces had a designated lactation space; 53% did not

• 78% of interviewees used a public-shared refrigerator to store breast milk at work (scale of 1-4) 2.8 rating

• Support from colleagues (scale of 1-4): 3.34

• Support from supervisor (scale of 1-4): 3.32

Key Findings

• Three Key Findings• Employee Lactation Breaks

• Employee Lactation Rooms

• Workplace Lactation Education

Employee Lactation Breaks

• Positive• “No questions asked”

• “Took as long as I needed”

• “Trust”

• Negative• “ The only option to pump was in a male supervisor’s office. I had to kick my

supervisor out of his office every time I pumped”

• “Meeting with clients”

• “My lunch break was only 20 minutes long which was not enough time”

Employee Lactation Rooms

• Positive• “Comfortable chairs”

• “Sink in the lactation rooms”

• “Refrigerator for breast milk located in lactation room”

• “Quiet”

• Negative• “Wanted to put us in a bathroom. I had to explain the law to my employer”

• “The curtains on the lactation room were sheer. Co-workers could see”

• “Pumped in the car at off-site meetings”

• “I pumped in the greenroom at school where plants were being grown. Finally demanded a different pumping location when mushrooms began to grow”

Workplace Lactation Education

• Positive• “Online workplace community for new mothers”

• “Respectfulness from co-workers. Nobody has ever said anything”

• “Provided with a ‘back to work’ packet after returning from maternity leave with lactation room locations listed and a ‘know your rights’ insert”

• Negative• “Supervisor said he would not have hired me if he knew I was pregnant.”

• “Colleagues suggested going to the car to pump”

• “My boss asked me if I had a battery pack for my pump so I could use the bathroom to pump”

Next Steps

• Definition of “reasonable time” of the Fair Labor Standards Act

• A venue for employees to anonymously file workplace lactation complaints

• Enforcement of Affordable Care Act policies at the workplace

• Positive recognition for workplaces going above and beyond the basic lactation requirements

• Standardized lactation education for co-workers and employers

Thank You