Local school district establishes safe spaces for nursing mothers

Imagine being a new mom, just returning to work after maternity leave and there is no safe and quiet space for you to pump. For new moms, it is hard to be away from your newborn baby, but being able to pump while away helps to soften that feeling of separation. However, what do you do when you don’t have a safe and comfortable place to do this at your workplace? Do you close your office door and hope someone doesn’t need you for a while or hide out in a bathroom?

 

It was precisely this issue that sparked Amanda, the School Nurse at Tri-City United (TCU) Schools, to reach out to Ashley Killday, Le Sueur-Waseca Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) Coordinator. Originally, one of the four TCU school locations had a mother’s room, but it didn’t meet the spirit or expectation for mothers that breastfeed. Together with leadership, Amanda and the SHIP Coordinators from Le Sueur-Waseca and Rice Counties worked to create safe and comfortable spaces for nursing mothers at school district locations. 

 

SHIP supported Amanda as she went to work on establishing a mother’s room in each school. Within a month there were four mother’s rooms already being utilized by staff. “As a mom myself, I couldn’t be happier making sure that all working moms have a safe space for pumping and feel supported at their jobs,” says Ashley Killday.  

 

Policies were also updated to provide more sustainable support to nursing mothers. Prior to this project, 38% of staff scored TCU as supportive towards breastfeeding, but this project helped increase the score to 88%. That’s an increase of 50% across the district. “This project could not have been more successful or better received by staff!” says Amanda. The new mother’s rooms have succeeded in providing the desired safe and comfortable place for nursing mothers.  

 

Contact Ashley Killday at 507-461-6167 or ashley.killday@wasecacounty.gov to supplement healthy food, physical activity, breastfeeding, tobacco education, or social wellbeing projects.