FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2010

Model Lactation Room Available at Health Department

Many mothers returning to the workplace after childbirth choose to continue providing breast milk to their infant, and desire to continue working.   Liz York, AIA, the American Institute of Architects, wrote an article about best practices for lactation room design.  She states there is a need for a dedicated place in the workplace environment where breastfeeding women, can comfortably and efficiently collect and store breast milk while at work.  York stated there is an increase in the number of mothers choosing to nurse their children for the first year of life or longer.    Due to the dramatic health benefits for infant and mother, many working women are willing to dedicate time and effort to pumping and storing breast milk when they are not with their babies.  Often, mothers are returning to work 6 to 12 weeks after giving birth and establishing breastfeeding as the optimal means of providing nutrition for their infants. 

In 2009, the Randolph County Health Department WIC office, created a Lactation Room with funds provided by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services 2009 WIC Enhancement Grant, to provide a Lactation Support model to area businesses.   WIC promotes workplace lactation support and is investing staff time to utilize “The Business Case for Breastfeeding” as the model for creating a breastfeeding friendly worksite. The Lactation Room at the health department was designed to provide a calm, comfortable and restful environment in which a mother and baby could nurse.  The Lactation Room at the health department, not only serves as a model to area businesses, but is also utilized as an employee benefit which offers privacy and comfortable surroundings in which a mother may pump her breast milk or nurse her baby.   There are a variety of features that were used in the Lactation Room  to enhance breastfeeding such as soft lighting, placement of  a rocking chair, telephone,  a compact refrigerator is available for milk storage, and a bulletin board with pictures of WIC mothers and babies who breastfeed.   A Medela Lactina breast pump is also available for use by the woman who works or attends school who chooses to provide her breast milk for her baby.   The Lactation Room also functions as the office for the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, Deanna Crowley, where she provides breastfeeding education and support to women prenatally and after birth. 

For more information about lactation support, “The Business Case for Breastfeeding”, or to tour the Randolph County Health Department’s Lactation Room, please contact Diana Taylor, WIC Coordinator, at 660-163-6643 Ext. 3020.  This institution in an equal opportunity provider.