Did you know that women with infants and children are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. work force? It’s estimated that 70 percent of women with children under 3 years of age work full time. And one-third of mothers return to work within three months after giving birth.

At the same time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the mothers exclusively breastfeed for 6 months and continue to breastfeed for at least a year. But if you think that full-time employment and exclusive breastfeeding are compatible, think again. Lack of support in the work place is consistently identified as a barrier to breastfeeding, especially among low income women.

Each year Working Mother magazine selects the 100 Best Companies in the U.S. for working women. In 2006, only 8 percent of the companies selected, provided as much as 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. This despite the AAP recommendation that babies be exclusively breastfed for 24 weeks.

HRSA releases resource kit
In an effort to improve support for breastfeeding in the workplace, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has recently released a resource kit entitled, The Business Case for Breastfeeding.

The resource kit targets employers, human resource managers, employees, lactation consultants, and others involved in outreach with local businesses. The kit includes 5 major components, including: (1) The Business Case for Breastfeeding booklet; (2) Easy Steps to Supporting Breastfeeding Employees; (3) Tool Kit (including a CD-ROM with reproducible program implementation and promotion components); (4) Employees’ Guide to Breastfeeding and Working; and (5) Outreach Marketing Guide (including a CD-ROM with reproducible materials that can be used in supporting working mothers and conducting outreach with businesses). Copies are available free of charge through the HRSA Information Center at 1-888-ASK-HRSA or online.

Training opportunities
Individuals who would like more information about how to use the resources can participate in a webcast on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST, featuring Cathy Carothers of Every Mother, Inc. Advance registration is required. Participants should register at the same computer they will be using for the webcast, so that an automatic computer check can be conducted to ensure that your computer meets all technical requirements. The webcast will accommodate up to 300 participants. It will also be archived, so that those unable to participate can access and view the content at their convenience later.

The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has also announced a training and technical assistance initiative to assist state breastfeeding coalitions and Healthy Start communities in conducting outreach with local businesses. Representatives from ten state breastfeeding coalitions were trained in January 2008 and are now conducting follow-up trainings for IBCLCs (International Board Certified Lactation Consultants) and others in their state who would like to participate in the effort. The ten states include California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah.

In addition, trainings will be conducted in six Healthy Start communities, including: Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, Birmingham, AL, Dublin, GA, Fresno, CA, and Michigan Inter-Tribal Agency.

The State Breastfeeding Coalitions and Healthy Start sites are conducting a search for IBCLCs in their state/community who are interested in attending the training effort or assisting with the worksite outreach efforts the states are conducting. If you are interested, please contact your state breastfeeding coalition to learn more!

For more information contact Isadora Hare, MCHB Project Officer.

The fact remains, women can do it all, they just can’t do it all at once.