Womenshealth.gov

• Breast-feeding
• Supporting Nursing Moms at Work: Employer Solutions
• Breast-feeding Support: Industry Solutions (look for the UC Davis page under “Education”)

UC Davis’ Breastfeeding Support Program, which provides lactation sites and other services, is setting a good example nationally and internationally.

• “Care Awards” — UC Davis recently received its second Care Award, given by international organizations of lactation consultants and examiners, recognizing programs that protect, promote and support breast-feeding. Now, each of the program's two components — Davis campus and Sacramento campus — has a Care Award.

• Womenshealth.gov — The website of the federal government’s Office on Women’s Health has begun showcasing UC Davis as a large university with “a comprehensive, campuswide support program for nursing mothers, including faculty, staff, students and visitors.”

The website profiles UC Davis in a new section titled “Supporting Nursing Moms at Work: Employer Solutions.” It includes best practices from education and a wide range of “industry,” from agriculture to retail, to show how employers are addressing the time and space issues associated with breast-feeding support — time for mothers to express their milk, and a place to do it.

The Office on Women’s Health prepared a video in which UC Davis representatives describe the Breastfeeding Support Program, and a staff member, faculty member and graduate student tell about their experiences in the program.

“I feel UC Davis has definitely set the bar very high for other workplaces or institutions of higher learning,” said Andrea Gaytan, assistant director of the Cross Cultural Center.

WorkLife and Wellness, a unit of Human Resources, runs the Breastfeeding Support Program, which is co-sponsored by the Foods for Health Institute and the Women’s Resources and Research Center.

For UC Davis affiliates and their partners, the program provides hospital-grade breast pumps in nearly 40 lactation sites on the Davis campus and 11 on the Sacramento campus, as well as lactation consultations and support group meetings, and breast-feeding and infant nutrition classes.

Kari Cooper, associate professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said she liked “having someplace where you know you can go and know that you won’t be disturbed … and (to have) a comfortable environment. It’s a lot more difficult if you don’t have a nice environment for this.”

Lactation stations are required in all new campus construction and in projects involving significant renovation. “In established buildings, it’s not as hard as it seems,” said Jill Tomczyk, a senior project manager in Design and Construction Management. “The amount of square footage that’s needed for these rooms is very small.”

Barbara Ashby, WorkLife and Wellness manager, said a program participant should have to walk no more than five minutes to reach a lactation site.

UC Davis policy addresses break times and flexible work arangements, which, according to Ashby, are “particularly important for our nonexempt employees who may not have the latitude in their schedule.”

The Office on Women’s Health launched the “Supporting Nursing Moms at Work” website on June 23 during the annual conference of the Society for Human Resource Managers.

“Today, more than 75 percent of all new mothers begin breast-feeding, and many of them want to continue when they return to work,” said Nancy C. Lee, director of the Office on Women’s Health, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We created this resource to provide practical solutions to suppiort nursing mothers in the workplace, including the most challenging of worksite settings.”

The website notes how women with children are the fastest-growing segment of the work force — and that balancing work and family is an important priority for them.

With time and space to express their milk, they can “give their best to their work and their baby,” the website states. It advises employers who invest in breast-feeding support to expect a 3-1 return, through lower health care costs, lower employee absenteeism rates (since babies are healthier), lower turnover rates, and higher employee productivity and loyalty.

“If I’m able to take care of my family more effectively, then I’m going to be a more efficient, effective employee as well,” Gaytan said.

Care Awards

The UC Davis Breastfeeding Support Program’s Sacramento component received a Care Award last year, as a hospital-based program; the Davis campus received a Care Award this year in the new category of community-based programs.

"The awards recognize the university as a whole for its dedication to our families to support healthy living while enabling mothers to return to work and school," said Shirley German, lactation consultant with the Breastfeeding Support Program.

German is certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners and registered with the International Lactation Consultant Association, the two organizations that present the IBCLC Care Awards (IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant).

Each recipient program must have at least one certified lactation consultant and provide lactation support five to seven days a week (hospital-based programs) or two to five days a week (community-based programs).

Each program must also document a project undertaken with the previous two years to promote and support lactation and breast-feeding, and provide education on the practice. 

The Breastfeeding Support Program’s Davis component cited its outreach activities on campus and in the greater community.

The program listed the following goals: To further promote and provide education and support for moms who are struggling with continuing to breast-feed when they return to work or school; to consolidate information for parents and childcare providers on how best to support moms who are working or studying and continuing to breast-feed; and, to bring translational theory to practice.

Here is how the program took action:

• Developed a newsletter, Breastfeeding Support News, presenting information on common breast-feeding challenges, addressing frequently asked questions and keeping program participants apprised of changes (new sites opening, etc.). The newsletter is sent out each academic quarter to more than 650 people, on campus and beyond, even internationally.
• Initiated a professional relationship with campus child care centers, with a goal of offering classes for parents and teachers, specifically in regard to continuing to breast-feed when returning to work or school.
• Organized a series of discussion groups, calling on UC Davis experts in research and development of evidence-based practices in lactation, breast-feeding, infant nutrition and breast milk; and also addressing topics of interest from the membership.

“I’m thrilled to be part of a program that has pioneered breast-feeding support and education for so many years while continuing to grow and develop the exchange of information and raise the awareness of existing and ideal services,” German said.

“As a university, we’re the perfect place to promote and support breast-feeding and human lactation. UC Davis has extensive professional resources, on both campuses, regarding the research of breast-feeding science and lactation, and, the facilitation of optimal breast-feeding practices.”

More information

Davis campus — contact Sandy Batchelor by phone, (530) 754-8791, or email.

Sacramento campus — contact Cheryl Burstiner by phone, (916) 703-3312 or email, or Debbie Albert by email.

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