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Breastfeeding laws minimal in Mass.
BOSTON -- In the hectic life of a new mom also working a full-time job, Andrea Jackson treasures the 15 minutes of peace and quiet she has twice a day in the mother's room at Lowell General Hospital.
It's a place where she can relax and think about her 4-month-old son Nicholas without hearing his cries, without phones ringing, and without people coming in and out of her office.
The room is available in a private, sanitary setting for Lowell General employees who choose to continue breast-feeding after they return to work.
It's been a blessing for Jackson, the assistant coordinator of the hospital's volunteer department, who returned one month ago from a three-month maternity leave.
“I love going to that room,'' she said. “Going back to work is tough enough and this reminds me of the baby back home. The support here is so wonderful.''
If Jackson didn't have the benefit of a private room, she's not sure whether she would've continued breast-feeding.
“I can see if you didn't have a comfortable place that you might have to stop,'' she said. “I know I am lucky.''
By providing a specific space for moms, Lowell General Hospital is in the minority among employers statewide, officials say. Breast-feeding advocates say Massachusetts is among the worst states in the nation when it comes to protecting nursing mothers in public and the workplace.
Most other states have enacted laws that at least protect mothers from being charged with a crime when breast-feeding in public. Under the current state law, it's not illegal for a woman to breast-feed in public, however she could be charged with indecent exposure.
Other states have done even more, such as passing legislation to promote breast-feeding and encouraging employers to be more accommodating to nursing mothers.
California has among the most progressive laws. It states that every employer shall provide a reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee who wishes to express milk for their infant child. The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide the employee with the use of a room or other location, other than a toilet stall, in close proximity to the employee's work area, for the employee to express milk in private.
“In terms of work-site protection, there is very little in Massachusetts,'' said Marsha Walker, a registered nurse and board member of the Massachusetts Breast-feeding Coalition. “The environment is not necessarily good. We have bills in this state to dissect frogs but we can't get a bill protecting women who choose to breast-feed.''
While there is legislation pending sponsored by Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, her proposal has failed in the past and it's unclear whether it will move forward this year. Fargo said her legislation seeks to take the best of the existing laws in other states.
Fargo's bill would exempt breast-feeding mothers from criminal statutes and it would also encourage businesses to be more family friendly. If employers meet certain requirements such as providing a break time, access to a private, clean space for mothers to express milk and a place to store the milk, the company could be designated as a “family friendly'' corporation.
Fargo said she sees the legislation as a civil rights issue for mothers but also a public health issue. She said more and more research is coming out about the health-care protections breast milk can provide to children. If more women breast-fed their children, health-care costs would go down, Fargo said.
“It's really profound,'' she said. “Our health-care costs are largely due to chronic diseases and this is a protection against that. The more we can build in prevention, the more we can control medical costs.''
According to the National Business Group on Health, breast-feeding can reduce some of the direct and indirect costs that employers struggle to contain each year.
Because it improves the health of mothers and infants, breast-feeding may help contain direct health care costs by reducing many childhood illnesses (such as ear infections, allergies, bronchitis/pneumonia, and diarrhea) and the annual number of visits to a physician.
Walker said employers are reluctant to spend money to provide a specific place for nursing mothers, however research has shown that it's more cost-effective in the long run. Mothers who breast-feed are more likely to have healthier infants, Walker said, which means the employee isn't missing work to care for a sick child.
Also, if an employer doesn't try to accommodate the mother, they run the risk of losing a valuable employee, Walker said.
“If a mother has to choose between employment and breast-feeding, the employer now has a problem of recruiting and training a new employee,'' Walker said. “It's highly cost-effective to set up an environment conducive to breast-feeding.''
Gale Pryor of Belmont, the author of Nursing Mother, Working Mother, said businesses aren't likely to voluntarily accommodate nursing mothers so passing laws may be the only way to guarantee change.
“Government protection for nursing mothers can jump-start a cultural change,'' she said. “An employer who thinks the idea is preposterous but who has to provide a lactation station for a nursing mother will very quickly discover it's an easy thing to do and does not get in the way of work. It will also garner the loyalty of their employees. But they're unlikely to do it unless they're required to.''
Pryor said the climate has improved in the last five to six years with large employers offering support programs, but there is still a long way to go.
Marcia Cassidy, a spokeswoman for Lowell General Hospital, said hospital nurses recommended creating a mother's room about two years ago. The hospital encourages new mothers to breast-feed, so Cassidy said it made sense to provide a comfortable setting for employees.
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