In yesterday’s Advisor, breastfeeding consultant and expert Michele Griswold, MPH, RN, IBCLC, helped employers understand their obligations to breastfeeding mothers. Today, questions about refrigeration and sound issues, plus an introduction to the all-in-one HR website, HR.BLR.com.
Griswald who is chair of the Connecticut Breastfeeding Coalition, shared her remarks during an interview with BLR Editor Elaine Quayle.
EQ: The question of refrigeration seems to come up with lactation rooms. Ideally, there would be a small refrigerator in the room or nearby. If not, do you have any suggestions?
MG: Again, there is room for creativity here. Ideally, a room would be equipped with a refrigerator; but if that is not a possibility, then mothers can use a cooler that they bring from home and ice packs.
For most mothers of healthy-term infants, this should be adequate for the typical workday. For mothers who have preterm infants or other special circumstances, an ice pack may not be adequate. They can check with their International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) or their infant’s healthcare provider for creative options.
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EQ: Do you think designating an area in a lunchroom refrigerator for expressed milk is a suitable option? Some nursing mothers and some coworkers may find this prospect distasteful.
MG: I think it depends on the individual workplace environment. Most importantly, the mother must feel comfortable with where her child’s milk is to be stored. It’s probably not unreasonable to expect that some employees may not be comfortable with milk being stored in a common area for various reasons. However; it is very important for both employees and employers to know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do not recommend special handling for human milk.
Human milk is absolutely not considered to be a risk to others should there be a spill. The bottom line is that if anyone finds this option distasteful, then it probably makes sense to figure out another option like having the breastfeeding employee bring a cooler from home. Some companies also purchase a small “dorm” size fridge. It can easily be fit into a small space and comes at a very minimal cost, usually less than $100.
EQ: How should the noise from breast pumps be addressed? Should this be a consideration in which rooms are selected for lactation?
MG: I am not aware of this being a problem, and I have been a lactation consultant in practice for more than 10 years. Pumps tend to be very quiet as manufacturers know that many mothers are using their products in the workplace. It doesn’t tend to come up among other more frequently cited barriers like employees making insensitive comments toward the mother who may be using break time to express milk.
The employer must set the stage for an atmosphere of respect with regard to nursing mothers in the workplace and, therefore, anything that would be considered insensitive with regard to the tasks associated with mothers expressing milk should not be tolerated.
Breastfeeding and lactation—a challenge, but certainly not your only challenge. In HR, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Like FMLA intermittent leave, overtime hassles, ADA accommodation, and then on top of that whatever the agencies and courts throw in your way.
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You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything-HR-in-one website,” HR.BLR.com. As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:
Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and thus has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.
Solicitation. In line with our general non-solicitation policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.
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“It’s probably not unreasonable to expect that some employees may not be comfortable with milk being stored in a common area for various reasons.” Can I just say how ridiculous this is? Grow up, people!
As an executive, and mother of four sons I can accurately state that electric breast pumps are noisy. It is not easy to express milk if you are concerned that your coworkers or employees ‘hear’ you every time you turn on your breast pump. It would be easiest to provide a small radio/music player and a good sturdy door so that every sound will not be broadcast to the work place. Put yourself in the mother/employee’s place. She needs to be able to relax so that her milk will ‘let down’ and be able to pump quickly and efficiently. You need for her to be in and out of the pumping room and back to work. The more relaxed she is, the faster the milk will be pumped. Test it out. have someone turn on a breast pump, close the door and stand outside. If you can hear it, then you need to provide some more sound proofing/ambient noise to cover the sound.
As for the refrigeration issue, get a small refrigerator for the pumping room and you won’t have to worry about anyone else’s sensibilities, or your liability. It is a small cost. And one less hurdle for you to worry about.
I would think that many new mothers would not be worried about the safety of human milk to others but the risk that someone might tamper with the milk while it is being stored in a common refrigerator. Small refrigerators that are designed for dorm rooms are very reasonable and would solve this problem.