May and I were very appreciative of our Star Tribune lactation room - a nondescript room with a key pad entry that we tried to keep as homey as possible. Stacks of magazines, photos of our kids and a legal pad to share our ups and downs. This was the place where Cribsheet evolved. We just received a note in our in-box from D who is hoping for the same type of space from her employer.

Hi - This is my first time writing and I’m thinking the Cribsheet blog would make for a good research test for me. I’ve got an 8 mo. old and have been back at work for over four months now and pumping every day. I sometimes joke that I definitely have more dates with the pump than I do with my hubby. We do not have a dedicated nursing room at my workplace, but I am allowed to use our sick room, provided it is not already in use. I was never thrilled with the idea of using a “sick” room to pump milk for my baby since the primary reason I’m bfing is for the nutritional value, but I’ve sucked it up because its the only private room around. I’ve often run into the dillema that the room is in use, which means I’ve had to find alternative spaces, usually a supply closet that is fairly uncomfortable and without a chair. So after months of pumping, I’ve finally decided to solicit other supporters at work and write a letter to HR asking for a dedicated nursing moms room. I’m curious if anyone knows of any studies or market data out there that support or indicate that a growing number of workplaces are providing this type of space (one would hope?)…or if others would be willing to antecdotal or if others would be willing to write in and indicate if their workplaces offer a dedicated space for this purpose and/or what else is provided (fridge, sofa, and I’ve even heard some workplaces provide a hospital grade pump). I’d like to bring a request forward in my workplace with some additional background research to support the idea.

D

Well - first of all there is this Minnesota Statute regarding nursing mothers in the workplace that I shared with D.

Has anyone else had to make a case for a decent lacation room at work? How did you work it out with your HR department or management?

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 7:57 am and is filed under Nursing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.