From the July 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
It can be expensive to offer paid time off, and not all companies will be able to do so. However, there are other ways companies can support a mother’s return to work. Some ways include offering flexible working schedules, part-time work or the option to work from home.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires workplaces with more than 50 employees to provide a lactation room or private space for moms who choose to breastfeed their children. But it’s a great, lower-cost option for smaller employers who cannot afford to offer more than a few weeks of paid parental leave, but still want to support their working-mom employees. The space cannot be a bathroom, and is for nursing and pumping mothers. Large employers are also required to permit reasonable breaks throughout the day to pump breast milk.
Like paid parental leave, companies offering lactation support achieve nearly double retention rates. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, employers offering lactation support programs achieve 94.2 percent retention, compared to the national average of 59 percent.
This is because even moms who receive a decent amount of paid leave still feel like they have to choose between breastfeeding and a 9-to-5. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers breastfeed for the first six months of a child’s life, so it’s no surprise that many mothers end up returning to work before they stop nursing. It’s estimated that optimal breastfeeding in the U.S. would prevent more than 2,500 maternal and 700 infant deaths annually.
When a mom has committed to breastfeeding her child, often because of the nutritional benefits it offers, she must develop and stick to a regular nursing routine. Not only does paid leave allow the mother and her child to form an important emotional bond, it also enables mothers to develop a breastfeeding schedule. All employers need to do, at the very least, is provide a space, and reasonable time, to stick to that plan.
About the author: Jennifer Jordan is the director of mom and baby at Aeroflow Healthcare.
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