When University research analyst Mary Gatlin gave birth to her son Jackson six months ago, she saw no reason not to return to work soon after. But when she brought a bottle of breast milk with her each day, she encountered some storage problems.
She and her coworkers share a refrigerator in their break room, but “the last thing I wanted to do was store breast milk around people’s lunches and old leftovers,” Gatlin said. Instead, she was forced to bring a cold pack, store it near her, and hope the bottle stayed cold enough to last until the end of the day.
“As a new mom, it was just one more thing to worry about,” Gatlin said.
Gatlin’s worries are now over, thanks to a refrigerator loan program the University made available to nursing mothers in October. The program allows faculty and staff members to store breast milk in personal refrigerators in their on-campus offices, giving new mothers the opportunity to return to work quickly and facilitating the balance between work and childcare.
“Having the rental fridge has eliminated that source of stress,” said Gatlin.
Work and Family Services Administrator Karen Logvin spearheaded the program so that women who were concerned with privacy or bothered by the equipment needed to pump milk at work could rest easy.
“A number of employees who were returning to work after giving birth felt refrigerators would really facilitate their comfort and productivity at work while they were nursing their babies,” said Logvin.
Cari Vanderkar, associate director of the Overseas Study Program at the University, was thankful for the convenience her personal refrigerator afforded her.
“It’s a perfect size to go under my desk,” Vanderkar said, “and it ensures that the milk stays fresh.”
Vanderkar said she also uses the refrigerator to store high-nutrient foods like yogurt so that her breast milk provides protein to her five-month-old daughter.
Logvin bought eight personal refrigerators at the beginning of the term with unrestricted University donation money, and six were claimed immediately. She plans to buy more refrigerators as demand increases.
“What was such a welcome surprise to me was how much it meant for the people,” she said.
The refrigerator loan program is but one example of the University’s recent effort to support breastfeeding mothers, said Logvin. In addition to the program, both students and staff who have recently given birth have access to lactation rooms in McKenzie Hall, Prince Lucien Campbell Hall and the University Health Center.
“Many students have said they no longer have to choose between carrying their pump or their books to school because they can store their pumps in a lactation room,” said Logvin.
The University’s support far exceeds the requirements it must fulfill to comply with a new state law requiring employers to “make reasonable efforts” to provide a private location in or close to the workplace for mothers who need to nurse or pump milk. The law states that employers must also provide up to an hour of unpaid break time for breastfeeding mothers in an eight-hour workday.
Health Center Director Tom Ryan stressed the importance of breastfeeding for new mothers.
“It’s beneficial for both the woman and the baby,” Ryan said. “For the woman, it lowers risk of various types of cancer, and for the baby, it passes on nutrients important in those first weeks of life.”
Although there are no rental refrigerators available at the health center, Ryan encouraged University employees to use its lactation room. According to Ryan, women should breastfeed newborns until they are at least six months old to provide babies with all the nutrients they need. Whether women should breastfeed any longer than six months is a hotly contested issue among health officials, Ryan said.
“How long is long enough? I couldn’t begin to say,” Ryan said. “There’s not a lot of scientific information.”
Mary Gatlin has set a goal to nurse her son for a year “to give him a good start in life,” she said. “I know it’s the healthiest food for him right now.”
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