September 25, 2013
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GREELEY EMPLOYERS LAUDED FOR SUPPORT OF NURSING MOTHERS By Mike Schwan
to receive the maximum health benefits, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding your baby only breast milk for around the first six months of life and then continuing breastfeeding in combination with nutritious foods for at least one year. However, most working moms do not follow the recommendation due to barriers at work, including lack of flexibility for break time to pump breast milk, lack of an area to pump and store breast milk, and lack of support from supervisors and coworkers.
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olorado state law requires employers to support nursing mothers. The law states employers must provide a private space for expressing milk, the space cannot be a bathroom stall, and adequate break time to pump breast milk are the minimum requirements. However, many employers go the extra mile to encourage employees to meet their breastfeeding goals. Here are two shining examples of employers who support breastfeeding at work:
» State Farm Insurance of Greeley has outstanding breastfeeding support, including a designated mom’s room with a sink, comfortable chair and a refrigerator to store breast milk. Malyka Korgan is an underwriter for the auto operations division, and she said State Farm does a great job. “State Farm has many great benefits, one of them being the mom’s room,” she wrote in an email. “I have had three babies during my time at State Farm, and I have utilized the mommy rooms for all three of them. I have heard stories of mothers that don’t have this benefit available to them and struggle to get away from their desk for a quick
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minute, and then they have to try to find a place where they can relax and pump without interruption.” » The University of Northern Colorado is another employer in Greeley
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Alena M. Clark, associate professor of the nutrition and dietetics program and Yvette Lucero-Nguyen, director of the UNC Women’s Resource Center. UNC has two fully equipped lacta-
Words can’t express my sincere gratitude for the lactation station at UNC. If it wasn’t for the lactation station there is no way I would have been able to provide my son with the best nutrition possible while working full time.
Tiffany Wood
Staff member at the University of Northern Colorado that has an outstanding lactation support program for its staff and students. The program was designed by
tion stations on campus that they offer employees and students. They also have a “Screen Rental Pro-
gram” to make it easy for staff to pump in their own work area by renting a portable privacy screen. Both students and staff members appreciate the breastfeeding support that UNC has provided. Tiffany Wood, staff member of UNC, said she sincerely appreciates the lactation program at UNC. “Words can’t express my sincere gratitude for the lactation station at UNC. If it wasn’t for the lactation station there is no way I would have been able to provide my son with the best nutrition possible while working full time.” In order for a nursing mother and her baby
Mike Schwan is a health communications specialist for the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment.