Family-friendly business policies should support parents with breastfeeding babies | Opinion

In honor of Breastfeeding Awareness Month in August, local breastfeeding advocates hosted a walk around Lake Ella. Mothers, children and other supporters in the community joined together to raise awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Breast milk contains the best nutrition possible for a newborn. It provides important antibodies that aid in the prevention of many illnesses. The risk of ear, stomach and throat infections, serious colds and pneumonia are reduced. Even the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome decreases in breastfed babies.

Mothers also receive benefits from breastfeeding, including reduction of postpartum bleeding and lower risks of developing breast and ovarian cancer later in life.

Breast milk offers a cheap and convenient alternative to finding, buying, mixing and heating formula. Still, rates of breastfeeding in the Capital City continue to be lower than the state average.

Many mothers report choosing not to breastfeed due to their early return to work or school. Being able to comfortably breastfeed or pump on the job or on campus is difficult.

One way our community can better support mothers and babies is to implement family-friendly business practices.

United States labor laws were amended in 2011 to require “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth,” as well as a private place, besides a bathroom, to do so.

Florida also has legislation granting mothers “the right to breastfeed in any public or private place they’re allowed to be.” We now look to the business community to fully implement the laws.

Many have enacted solutions to helping new mothers and families in general. They are unique to their location and function, but do their part in aiding new mothers and even new fathers.

The Tucker Civic Center and Tallahassee International Airport installed Mamava lactation centers for mothers on the go. 

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital maintains its Baby-Friendly designation by providing education, encouragement and support to normalize breastfeeding – a practice they also support for employees.

This past June, the City of Tallahassee joined the Leon County Board of County Commissioners in providing paid maternal and paternal leave for families with new babies. 

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According to Courtney Atkins, co-chair of the Breastfeeding Policy Workgroup (a local coalition of doctors, lactation specialists, nutritionists, human resource specialists and more), “Family-friendly practices increase the chances that a woman will be able to provide the best possible food source for a new baby – breast milk.”

The economic impact of these practices are also well documented from higher productivity and job satisfaction to reduced absenteeism.

“It’s absolutely something any business can do,” Tom Derzypolski, co-founder and president of BowStern Marketing Communications, said. “The type of business you are in will present different challenges, but our work has shown that family-friendly practices are achievable by every single kind of business. Period.”

To learn more about how you can support the implementation of family-friendly policies in the workplace, contact Whole Child Leon executive director Courtney Atkins at 850-692-3134.

Leah Mazur is a junior at Leon High School and volunteer for Whole Child Leon.