Support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act

Are you a nursing mother? Are you also a working mother? Then this letter below that I received in my e-mail might be of some interest to you.


Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers, Inc.
http://infertilityanswers.org/


Tough economic times may be making it harder for women to breastfeed? Yes! According to a recent ABC news story, one of the fall-outs from the recession is that some new mothers are feeling forced to take shorter maternity leaves due to concerns about finances and job stability.1 Unfortunately, women who have to cut their maternity leave short often can't continue to breastfeed their infants because many workplaces don't adequately support breastfeeding.2 That's a big problem when you consider that 56% of women with infants are now the in the labor force--we need common-sense workplace policies to make sure that moms who want to breastfeed can.3

Act now for nursing moms by urging your Member of Congress to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act: http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/t/9251/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=910

Too many women are unable to breastfeed for the 6 months recommended by doctors and experts. This is often due to the fact that many workplace structures make this nearly impossible. While 74% of U.S. women breastfeed their infants at birth, only 12% are exclusively breastfeeding at six months as recommended by every major national and international medical authority.4 On average, rates of breastfeeding drop even lower for young and low-income mothers.5

Some mothers choose to stop breastfeeding but others don't have a choice. Many women who work outside the home face significant barriers or outright discrimination in their efforts to breastfeed. Even well-intentioned employers may be unaware about how to accommodate nursing moms, leaving women using sheets to cover up in cubicles, cramming into bathroom stalls with breast pumps, or even hiding out in dingy supply rooms just to pump breast milk for their babies.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) recently introduced the Breastfeeding Promotion Act to support employers and nursing moms by:

* Providing tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace;
* Requiring employers to make reasonable efforts to provide appropriate space and break time for mothers to express milk;
* Protecting breastfeeding women from being fired or discriminated against in the workplace; and
* Allowing families to deduct the cost of breastfeeding equipment on their taxes, as is the case with other common medical expenses.6

Studies show that breastfeeding is good for babies, mothers and employers! Breastfed babies have a lower risk of infection, obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. This not only reduces a family's healthcare costs (and anguish), it also reduces costs (and workplace interruptions) for employers, given that mothers and fathers with healthier babies have to leave work less often to care them. 7

Voice your support for the Breastfeeding Promotion Act today: http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/t/9251/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=910

Thanks for speaking up for nursing mothers!

-- Dionna, Ashley, Mary, Donna, Kristin, and the MomsRising Team

P.S. Do you have a success or horror story about trying to breastfeed after returning to work? Share it with us and others in the MomsRising community here: http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/t/9253/blog/comments.jsp?key=502&blog_entry_KEY=23366&t=