Lactation room

Lactation room (or Lactorium) is an American term for a private room where a breastfeeding woman can use a breast pump in private.

Purpose

The purpose of lactation rooms is to reduce barriers to breastfeeding mothers by enabling them to breastfeed their child or "pump" expressed milk for later use once they physically return to work. Lactation rooms are primarily established under Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and amended Fair Labor Standards Act, which require employers to provide a private room to lactating mothers, other than a bathroom or locker room. Lactation rooms may be accompanied by a larger support program provided by the employer or may be the floor, mandated contribution to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.

Popularity

Over the past decade, lactation rooms have become widely popular in the US business setting. The reason for this development is that

“mothers are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force. Approximately 70% of employed mothers with children younger than 3 years work full time. One-third of these mothers return to work within 3 months after giving birth and two-thirds return within 6 months. Working outside the home is related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding, and intentions to work full-time are significantly associated with lower rates of breastfeeding initiation and shorter duration”. [1]

Benefits

In addition, breastfeeding benefits employers as breastfeeding results in decreased health claims, increased productivity, and fewer days missed from work to care for sick children. [2]

One example of the benefits provided to businesses and employees by establishing a corporate lactation program is that of CIGNA, the national employee benefits company. In 1995, CIGNA established the “Working Well Moms” program, which provided lactation education program and lactation rooms. In 2000, CIGNA and the UCLA conducted a study of 343 breastfeeding women who were taking part in CIGNA’s program. The study revealed a savings of $240,000 annually in health care expenses for breastfeeding mothers and their children, and a savings of $60,000 annually through reduced absenteeism among breastfeeding mothers at CIGNA. [3] In addition, the study found that

“breastfeeding duration for women enrolled in the Working Well Moms program is 72.5% at six months compared to a 21.1 percent national average of employed new mothers.” [3]

Generally, a lactation room includes a refrigerator, sink, cleaning supplies, table, and comfortable chair. The ability to pump throughout the day allows mothers to keep up their milk supply and enables them to save and take home the nutrient-rich milk they have pumped.

Resources

A variety of resources exist for breastfeeding mother and employers on how to establish and promote a lactation room or lactation support program. The following are currently available:

In addition, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau is currently developing a toolkit to promote breastfeeding in the workplace called “The Business Case for Breastfeeding”.

Notes

  1. ↑ CDC
  2. ↑ US Breastfeeding
  3. 1 2 CIGNA
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