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Keep
the Milk Flowing: Breast-feeding at Work and School
by Marianne Scharbo-DeHaan & Ali P. Crown
An increasing number of women today are continuing to breast-feed when
they return to work or school. Most likely this is due to a renewed appreciation
for the benefits of breast milk. Recent evidence has shown that in addition
to the psychological benefits of bonding between mother and child, there
are a multitude of physical benefits to the infant. Some of these are:
• Breast milk contains antibodies which protect against diarrhea,
infections to the middle ear, lower respiratory tract, urinary tract,
and even some life-threatening infections.
• Breast-fed babies produce a protein that mobilizes the immune system
when they do get infections.
• Breast-fed babies prodce a stronger immune response following vaccinations.
• Babies who are breast-fed for six months or longer have a much
lower risk of asthma and other allergies. This protection is now thought
to last until age 17.
• Breast milk is healthier than any alternative and contains nutrients
which are believed to be essential to optimal neurological development.
• In observational studies, breast-feeding appears to reduce the
risk of developing certain serious diseases later in life, such as diabetes,
Crohn's disease, lymphoma, and lupus.
Clearly, breast-feeding makes good economic (as well as ecologic) sense.
A study conducted by a California company found that breast-feeding among
female employees resulted in a 36 percent reduction in infant illnesses
and a 27 percent reduction in mothers' absenteeism. An in-house publication
for Kaiser Permanente estimates a savings of $1,000,000 to the HMO merely
from the reduced incidence of ear infections that would result from an
increase in breast-feeding among its members. An expert has estimated
that universal breast-feeding for the first three months could decrease
hospitaliation for infants in the U.S. by $2 billion to $4 billion per
year. These benefits are startling.
If all this is true, why don't more women breast-feed and why don't they
continue to breast-feed when they return to work or school? Women have
been neither encouraged nor supported in our culture as they are, for
example, in Finland, where 95% of the babies are breast-fed and in Germany,
where 70% is the figure. Women often face prejudice and criticism about
breast-feeding instead of instruction and support. In fact, the breast
has been so sexualized in our culture that some women feel shamed into
nursing their babies in bathroom stalls. It is indeed difficult to breast-feed
while facing the disapproval of employers, acquaintances, and scandalized
passersby.
In response to this need and to support nursing mothers, the Center for
Women has established the "Nursing Nest," a private space in
which mothers can nurse their infants or pump their breasts. It has been
well received. Valerie Booth, adjunct professor of literature, observed
that "an academic career and motherhood often do not accommodate
each other. The new Nursing Nest at the Center makes wearing both hats
much easier."
With the Nursing Nest a mother can also arrange her schedule so that the
baby can be brought to her for feedings, or she can use the space to pump
her breasts for the next day's feeding. Breast milk will remain fresh
in the refrigerator for about 48 hours; frozen breast milk keeps for about
two weeks. The Center can provide this storage. Occasionally institutions
with sufficient nursing mothers buy electric pumps --which are considered
the most efficient, effective, and comfortable -- for their employees'
use. The Center for Women is considering such a purchase.
For now, women such as Carrie Baker, an Emory Law School graduate and
Ph.D. candidate in Women's Studies, can come to the Center for Women with
their own portable pump. According to Carrie, "As a graduate student,
I have no office or dorm room. The Women's Center provides me with a relaxed
space and clean facilities to pump my breast milk."
Marianne Scharbo-DeHaan is an associate professor in the Nurse Midwifery
Program in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.
Ali P. Crown is director of Center for Women
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