47 Percent of Pregnant Women Have Considered Quitting for More Breastfeeding-Friendly Jobs

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This year brought major strides for breastfeeding women — it’snow (finally!) legal to nurse in public in all 50 states, andall major airports must have lactation rooms, thanks to a new law. But there’s still far to go, especially when it comes to breastfeeding in the workplace.

The survey comes from Aeroflow Healthcare, who asked 774 expecting mothers in the United States between the ages of 18 and 40 about pumping in the workplace. Other results from the survey were similarly disheartening: 63 percent of women said they believe there’s a stigma surrounding moms who breastfeed at work, and 49 percent reported feeling concerned that pumping and nursing in the office would impact their career growth. Of the 774 pregnant women, 76 percent said they plan to continue breastfeeding when they return to work, but not all reported thatthey would have a place to do it.

While 47 percent of respondents said their office had a lactation room with pumping essentials, 29 percent said there is no such room. An additional 13 percent said that there was a designated area, but it was not designed for pumping. The remaining respondents were unsure.

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Thanks to anamendment to the Fair Labor Standards Actpassed in 2010, employers are legally required to give nursing mothers time to pump, and a space other than a bathroom to do it. However, they do not have to pay mothers during this break time, and oftentimes the lactation rooms end up being storage closets or bare rooms in freezing cold basements.

source: people.com