JDs Rising

By Lindsey Skerrett

Now that I am looking to get back into the workforce, as a new mother I can safely say that nursing has become a hot topic for debate recently. Prior to having my baby, I was unaware that breastfeeding could produce such a polarizing reaction. After I found out that I was pregnant, I bought every book known to man. Based on my research, I just assumed I’d breastfeed and that was that.

How wrong I was. Nursing mothers, one of our most vulnerable populations, face such public and private scrutiny. Recent sensationalized articles – debating when solid foods should be introduced and mocking ice cream shops making breast milk ice cream – have even caught the eye of those without children.

Most new mothers are aware that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding your infant for a minimum of six months but prefers for the first year of life or longer. The World Health Organization recommends the first two years of life. The health benefits are undeniable. Breast is best. However, the choice isn’t that simple. Breastfeeding can bring with it a myriad of painful difficulties. One of those is how to manage nursing your infant when you choose to return to work. Some mothers cannot afford the fancy electric double breast pumps (the Cadillac of breast pumps if you will). Other babies, like my own, decide that they prefer the real thing and refuse bottles.

With all of these challenges, one challenge mothers should not face is how to provide milk for their child when they return to work. With a new Fact Sheet made available by Juliana Milhofer, pro bono attorney, and Natasha Frost, staff attorney with the Public Health Law Center at William Mitchell College of Law, breastfeeding mothers in Minnesota now have a unique and valuable resource to combat those challenges. “Legal Protections for Nursing Mothers in Minnesota” is a two-page document summarizing the state and federal protections for nursing mothers in the workplace. Milhofer and Frost take the fact sheet a step further and include information regarding protections for nursing in public, public benefit programs, and tax benefits related to breastfeeding. In fact, this document is one of very few available to citizens around the country so Frost and Milhofer are truly at the forefront of this issue.

The Statewide Health Improvement Program, or SHIP, helped to fund work on the fact sheet though very few state dollars were used due to the dedication of Ms. Milhofer. The goals of SHIP include reducing obesity, promoting active living and reducing tobacco use. The promotion of breastfeeding is seen as critical to the overall goals of improving the health of Minnesotans. Frost and Milhofer saw a need for a quick and easy reference for nursing mothers. After discussing the need for resources with the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition, the idea of a fact sheet took hold. Through their fact sheet, Frost and Milhofer hope to lessen confusion about the interplay between federal and state protections and to help mothers communicate with their employers regarding their decision to breastfeed.

Frost hopes that one day this fact sheet will be widely available in the community. The Public Health Law Center relies on its website and the assistance of community partners for distribution of its resources. For the fact sheet to reach a broader audience, it would be ideal if this resource was available in several languages as well. For now, Frost encourages the public to consult the Public Health Law Center’s website for the fact sheet.

I encourage not just nursing mothers but everyone to help get the word out about this fact sheet. By sharing this document with nursing mothers, friends, and health providers, we can all help to ensure that one of our most vulnerable populations is well aware of and afforded all of the legal protections that are out there. No mother should be forced to choose between her job and providing the best nutrition possible for her child. Every mother should know that she has the right to nurse her child when out in the community. As attorneys, we owe it to them and ourselves to give them the legal backing to do so.