The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Stephen Colbert and Rep. Carolyn Maloney on pumping at work.

 

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Massachusetts moms, please act now!

I'm a resident of Massachusetts, one of only three states that provides no legal protection for nursing in public.  There is some hope of that finally changing this year, but we need to act quickly.  Here's a notice put out by the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition:

Massachusetts is one of only three states without any laws to protect a mother's right to breastfeed in public.  Senator Fargo's proposed bill 2438 is currently stuck in the House Ways and Means Committee and unless we can convince the Speaker of the House to move it out of committee immediately our chance of passing the bill this year.  Deadline is the end of July.

Speaker of the House

Salvatore F. Dimasi

State House

Room 356

State House

Boston MA 02133

On the back of the photo write "Another family for Senate Bill 2438!  Please send it to the floor for a vote!

That's it!  Any cute baby photo will do, whether it was taken two days ago or twenty years ago, and no, they don't have to be breastfeeding in the photo.  In fact, we'd rather they weren't.  If you do send a photo of your baby breastfeeding please make it discreet.  We want to flood these offices with pictures of cute babies, not breasts!

For those of you with the time and energy you get extra credit if you also send a photo/request to:

Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee

Rep. Robert DeLeo

Room 243

State House

Boston, MA 02133

You may also email email Rep. DiMasi, Rep. DeLeo, or your own representative an embedded photo, but not an attachment.  Keep the photo size small. 

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Pumping on campus.

Over the last year I've been working with a group of women to help get a lactation program set up at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 

Massachusetts doesn't (yet!) have a law requiring employers to accommodate breastfeeding employees, so part of the job is persuading people in leadership positions that this is a good idea.  I've noticed that sometimes it helps so show what other institutions are doing - it shows that this is considered important by peer institutions. 

So I did a little online digging to learn about lactation programs on large public university campuses.  What I found was really encouraging.

Lots of campuses offer places for mothers to pump.  Some are centrally organized, with online room scheduling and breastfeeding support on campus.  One even has a listserv to connect pumping mothers.  Some are a patchwork of spaces, with different rules for how they're used.  Many campuses provide hospital grade pumps in their pumping rooms, and some offer free or discounted pumping kits.

Here are a few examples:

• University of California, Davis:  26 pumping locations, each with a hospital grade pump. Support group and breastfeeding clinic on campus
• Ohio State University: 12 locations, all new construction plans will include lactation space
• University of Washington: 8 pumping locations, hospital grade pumps in each

To see more examples, including links to the program websites, here's a link to the chart (Word doc) I made with what I found.  I was looking for institutions comparable with the University of Massachusetts, so it doesn't include any information on smaller colleges or universities. Feel free to use it to advocate for lactation accommodations on your campus!  And here's a great free toolkit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to get the conversation started.

Do you work or study on a college or university campus?  Leave a comment telling us how it works for you!  

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California company fined $4,000 for violating workplace pumping law.

And speaking of pumping...

A California company has been fined $4,000 for violating the state's law requiring employers to make a reasonable effort to provide a clean, private space for pumping (that is not a toilet stall) and a reasonable amount of break time to do so.

The Sacramento Bee reports:

"In the first citation of its kind, California's Labor Commission on Friday fined a Santa Clara-based company $4,000 for violating a state law that requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees who are breast-feeding.

The commission cited International Security Services Inc., a private security firm, after investigating a complaint by one of its employees.

The woman, who was not named in a press release, said she had to express breast milk in a room monitored by security cameras and didn't get the time she needed."

This reminded me of the discussion I had with Jake Marcus about enforcement provisions in laws protecting breastfeeding mothers in a recent podcast interview.

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Podcast: Jake Marcus on nursing in public and the law

Welcome to another Motherwear podcast!

This episode features an interview with Jake Marcus, J.D. on nursing in public and the law. 

Jake discusses the different types of breastfeeding laws, what to do if you're harassed for nursing in public, and where to get information on the law in your state.  We also discuss whether nursing mothers rooms are a convenience or a form of quarantine.  Jake recently wrote a comprehensive article in Mothering Magazine on this topic.  Mothering also produced a great pocket guide (pdf) on breastfeeding in public and breastfeeding and air travel.

You can listen to the podcast with the player below, download it to your iPod at the Motherwear iTunes store, or  download it to play on your computer with another player.

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Check our our new iTunes store!

When I tell people that I run this blog they always assume that I'm technologically savvy.  I'm really not.  I know no HTML and almost nothing about Photoshop.  The fact that I can do this is just a testament to how easy blogging software has become.

So, it took me quite a while to do it, but I finally set up an iTunes store for the Motherwear Podcasts, and I've been patting myself on the back ever since.

If you use iTunes (which you can download for free), check out the new Motherwear iTunes store.  You can download all of the podcasts to your iPod or other mp3 player for free, and you can also subscribe to the podcast feed so you'll never miss an episode!  The little icon to the left on the sidebar will also take you there.

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Sign this petition to get BPA out of baby bottles.

By now you've probably heard about Bisphenol-A, the estrogen-mimicking component of some polycarbonate plastics which is found in most baby bottles and some formula cans.  I posted about its health effects last year.

BPA has been in the news quite a bit this week, with a Los Angeles Times article reporting that the National Institutes of Health now expresses "some concern" that BPA may harm fetuses and infants, and with the news that the Canadian government yesterday banned BPA from baby bottles, deeming it a toxic substance.  There were reports that Walmart has started pulling bottles with BPA off shelves.  Nalgene announced that it would get rid of BPA in its bottles and started pulling remaining stock off the shelves, and Senator Charles Schumer announced he'd introduce a bill in the U.S. Senate to ban BPA from bottles, dental sealants, and food containers. 

The plastics industry representatives, through the years of debate, has maintained the BPA is safe, but it seems pretty clear that the market is going to have the last word on this one.  Nearly every family I meet these days has heard of BPA, and all of those Avent bottles I used to see pumping moms use have been replaced by Born Free and Medela bottles.  I might add that I started noticing moms making this switch before the federal reports started coming out.  We're such smart cookies.

So, while it seems to me that the manufacturers are already backed into a corner, we might as well take the opportunity to wag our finger at them.  After all, as late as Thursday a representative of the plastics industry was offering his "reassurance" that products made with BPA are safe.

Check out this Moms Rising petition which they'll send to the manufacturers of the major manufacturers of baby bottles, asking that they discontinue using BPA in their bottles.

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Vermont Human Rights Commission finds that airline violated the law when forcing mother off plane.

Most of you probably recall the case of Emily Gillette (shown to the right), the New Mexico mother who was forced off of a Freedom Airlines plane in 2006 because she refused to cover up or stop breastfeeding.  The incident occurred in Vermont, a state which protects nursing mothers' rights to breastfeed in public places.  The case sparked the first nationwide nurse-in at Delta ticket counters.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission ruled this week that Freedom Airlines discriminated against Gillette.  The parties now have six months in which to reach a settlement agreement.  Though the flight Gillette was taking was a code-share between Delta Airlines and Freedom Airlines, the Commission did not charge Delta with discrimination. 

The Burlington Free Press reports:

"We are delighted that the commission found against Freedom," said Beth Boepple, a Manchester-based attorney who represents Gillette. "We're disappointed in the decision regarding Delta, but we understand why the commission arrived at that decision, even though we don't necessarily agree."

Freedom and Gillette have six months to negotiate a settlement. Boepple said Gillette's goal is to see airline policy put into place that protects other women from similar events; a written policy put into place that trains and educates employees; and to receive monetary compensation to at least cover legal and travel costs.

A ruling against Delta obviously would have had more far-reaching implications, but this news is still a positive step and may make other airlines take the issue seriously.

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Nursing mother sentenced to night in jail or fine for postponing jury duty.

This story (video here) really surprised me:

A Maryland judge sentenced a breastfeeding mother to a night in jail or a $150 fine, after she asked to postpone her jury duty.

Elizabeth Jett's baby boy Henry was less than 12 weeks old when she was called for jury duty. "I think it’s a case of priorities. Taking care of your children should be your first priority. Jury duty can always come later," Jett said.

Jett asked to postpone and serve during the Summer, when Henry would be older and her mother, a full-time teacher, could take care of him and his five-year-old brother.

The Carroll County judge said Jett was in contempt of court, which Jett thought was unbelievable. "I was just shocked. I couldn’t even put it into words," she said.

Legislation that would allow nursing mothers with children under the age of two to be excused from jury duty was introduced for the second time. When the plan was proposed in 2004, many lawmakers shot it down.

Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the law would cause more people to try to postpone their duties, "If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition." [emphasis added]

Frosh said the law already gives judges broad discretion to excuse residents from jury duty, "So what we want is for judges to use their discretion liberally."

I'd note here that had this mother been working, she would have been guaranteed time off from work under the Family Medical Leave Act, and that she simply asked to postpone her service, not be excused from it.  It's not clear to me whether pumping would have been an option, but even that would have required the agreement of the judge, since juries are kept together and breaks are at the discretion of the judge.  And of course not all babies take bottles, and not all women have success with pumping.

When I served on a jury a few months ago, the judge in the case did use her discretion liberally.  She asked each member of the jury pool if there was any reason why serving on the jury would present a significant hardship.  She cited as examples the need to care for children or elderly relatives, medical procedures, and even stated that since we live in an area with lots of colleges students, she would excuse any student who would miss class.

So, there are judges who understand this particular need of the "human condition," and are happy to accommodate it.  But clearly there are others who don't.  I appreciate the argument that specifically naming conditions can make things complicated.  But there also appear to be judges who don't have an adequate understanding of this issue to use their discretion in a manner most of us would find appropriate.  That's why 12 states (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia) have laws that accommodate nursing mothers called for jury duty.

As for the argument that these laws create opportunities for more people - such as those undergoing chemotherapy or kidney dialysis - to postpone their service, isn't that what we would all want?

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Can you guess which state doesn't protect breastfeeding in public?

There have been four incidents in the news recently regarding nursing in public, one each in New York, Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts.  Three of the four states have statutes protecting nursing in public.  See if you can guess which one does not.

In Florida a mother was told to stop breastfeeding at her older child's school.  

Outcome: The school's principal "later looked into Florida law on breast-feeding, and found he was off-base... He has since told staff members that breast-feeding is allowed at school."

In New York, a mother visiting a museum stopped to nurse her baby - under three blankets.  She was told to move to a bathroom or leave.  Area mothers later held a group show of support for the mother.

Outcome:  The museum director stated "the museum has no such policy prohibiting breastfeeding anywhere."  He believes that the person involved was not a museum staff member, and stated “We know that our staff is well aware about rule, regulations, about rights to breast feed anywhere.”

In Texas (video is worth watching), a mother getting her haircut at a salon was told that she couldn't breastfeed her child.  There were no other customers in the salon at the time, and the mother was had tried to nurse under a shawl and the salon's smock.  She left with her hair half-cut.  

Outcome:  The salon chain issued this statement: "We welcome mothers and children.  We do not have a policy against breastfeeding. This employee acted incorrectly."

In Massachusetts, a mother eating with her family at a restaurant was told she couldn't breastfeed in an adjoining empty banquet hall.  She asked if she could have a private space to nurse, and was told no by the manager. 

Outcome:  Restaurant management stated that they never heard her mention breastfeeding.  A waitress stated that the mother was told she could nurse in the banquet hall, but not eat there.

 

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