Nursing Mothers At Work Celebrate in Colorado

Well, I'm not gonna bring Jonas in and let him suckle at my desk if that's what you were thinking! But, the Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act will go into effect Aug. 7 which is great news for working moms. The new law in Colorado requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a suitable private space for women to pump breastmilk at work and not to discriminate against them for doing so. The goal of the law is to boost the number of babies who are exclusively breastfed even after their mothers return to work. Children who are exclusively breastfed are smarter and healthier and mothers who have breastfed are at a reduced risk of cancer and other diseases. The Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition says this law will actually help employers because breastfeeding reduces absenteeism due to sick children, increases company loyalty and morale and reduces the health care costs incurred by the family. To celebrate, the coalition will have a Nursing Mothers at Work Celebration from 9-11 a.m. tomorrow at the Capital building in Denver. It will be a "bagel breakfast for breastfeeding" event. Lactating mothers are encouraged to attend. I have LOTS of experience with the working and breastfeeding thing. Our regular readers would agree that I'm not a nursing Nazi but I choose personally to breastfeed. I'm the only lactating woman in the room so I guess I have an obligation to state an opinion. Breastfeeding is hard in a way that non-lactating people wouldn't understand. It's hard because there is a schedule to follow whether you are near your baby or not. Deviation from the schedule is detrimental both to your engorged breasts (which hurts by the way) and to the hungry baby. Nursing mothers give up breaks and lunch hours and overtime for their children. Often it sucks (no pun intended) and it's wearisome. It takes stamina and support. And it is essential that support come from the workplace. Boobs work on demand and they quit working if they don't get used. So working women who want to continue to breastfeed MUST find a way to express milk. Preferably a clean place so that the milk remains as sterile and yummy as possible. Just like cow's milk, it needs to go in a fridge or it will sour. I realize that the thought of breastmilk sitting next to someone's lunch really grosses people out but babies need to eat too. Besides, it can't be any worse than some of the moldy sandwiches we've found in the newsroom fridge. Now, that's gross. It's unfortunate that the workplace is insensitive enough that we actually had to pass a law to protect breastfeeding, but the law is essential to the working mother. I think the key element here is "not to discriminate against." Breastfeeding is an essential element to the human experience on a most primal level. That in fact is what I think bothers people most of all. They don't like to be reminded of their animal nature, but we are all indeed just another mammal. More information available at www.coloradobreastfeeding.org. For employers, an updated comprehensive section outlining the new law will be available tomorrow at www.coworkforce.com.