Nursing Your Kids

Elizabeth Jett, mother to an exclusively breastfed infant and a five-year-old, failed to show up for jury duty in Maryland this October. She initially attempted to get out of service until the summer, but court officials denied her request offering her dates in January instead. Rather than agree to a date in January, she just didn’t show up to court and called in the morning of her service to say she wasn’t going. In January she was asked to come in to talk with the judge about her situation and found she was actually being held in contempt of court.

Breastfeeding a young infant is incredibly time consuming. Even if Jett were able to find appropriate child care she’d still need to be excused from court proceedings several times a day in order to express milk. Postponing her jury duty for a few extra months makes it more likely that she’d be able to serve well, rather than being distracted by her rock-hard boobs and the fear of squirting breastmilk all over her fellow jurors. I don’t think that it was right of her to just skip out on jury duty and I don’t think that it was wrong of the judge to hold her in contempt of court under the circumstances, but mothers of infants should be given some leeway in regards to rescheduling jury duty.

Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow breastfeeding mothers with young children to be excused from jury duty. This hasn’t gone over well.

Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the law would cause more people to try to postpone their duties, “If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition.”

Frosh was also quoted as saying, “I really hope we don’t have to get in the business of passing laws for every excuse you may have for jury duty,” because obviously chemo is a lousy excuse for skipping out on one’s civic duties. Did my sarcasm come across clearly enough there? Because clearly Frosh is a dick. I mean seriously, chemo isn’t a good enough excuse to be excused from jury duty? Has he ever met anyone going through chemotherapy?

Frosh’s dickheadery aside, I think that Jett screwed up big time by failing to report. The law is law. Had she responded to letters and agreed to reschedule she wouldn’t be in this position.

I read an interesting opinion piece at Concurring Opinions about Sophie Currier’s win. The author presented several facts that I didn’t see in any of the news articles I read when the case was at its peak, specifically the accommodations the National Board of Medical Examiners offered Currier after refusing her request for additional break time.

* permission to express milk in a private room at the testing center during the allotted break time;

* permission to bring food and drink into the testing room;

* permission to pump milk while in her separate testing room;

* the option to leave the test center to breastfeed during the allotted time.

The writer’s opinion is that the first two requests are worthwhile because they addressed Currier’s needs. Currier needed additional time because she would not be able to pump, eat and use the bathroom in the time allotted. By allowing her to eat and drink in the testing room, her nutritional needs would be taken care of. By giving Currier a private room to pump in, she’d be able to pump in the testing center without concern for her privacy. The writer also feels that the second two accommodations were worthless. Pumping in a testing room with three glass walls isn’t an option for obvious reasons. Leaving the testing center to breastfeed would further cut into her break time.

The article asks why the first two options weren’t enough. With food and drink available and 45 minutes of break time to use the rest room and pump, why did Currier need additional time. Currier’s opinion was that she’d need more time to set up the pump before use and break it down, clean it and store the milk after the pumping session. The writer wonders why she couldn’t have just brought the pump preassembled with additional preassembled parts if she needed to pump again. Storing milk just involves putting it in a cooler or in the ice pack next to the pump. How much additional time would she need?

I just read the article before beginning this post so I haven’t had much time to mull it over, but my first instincts are to agree with the writer. I’ve never had to pump on a work schedule, so I’m personally unfamiliar with the logistics of it. However, I taught with a first-time mother who had to pump twice a day when she returned from maternity leave. In order to pump she had to find another teacher to cover her class during prep time for 20 minutes a day. Her second pumping session took place during her own prep time. There wasn’t a private room available for her so she was forced to pump in the only staff bathroom. At the time I was irritated that she was hogging the bathroom, but now with close to two years of breastfeeding behind me I just feel sad that she had to express milk in a bathroom. Getting back to the point- she was able to pump for 20 minutes, twice a day. I wasn’t there to watch her assemble and disassemble her pump or see how she cleaned it, but she made it work. I imagine most working mothers without private offices are able to make it work for them as well. Why did Currier need additional time?

The writer ends the piece with this:

What concerns me is that this case sends the message that accommodating breastfeeding mothers is difficult. It’s not. All women need is privacy to pump and the break time that many employees are already afforded during the course of an average day. But employers will understandably protest policies requiring accommodation if they believe that breastfeeding employees require one additional hour on top of what they usually receive…

…As academics have painstakingly documented, there is much that policymakers could do to help women balance families and careers. My fear is that Currier will end up as a poster child for those who oppose these efforts.

I can see the logic in that argument. It makes a great deal of sense. But my instincts still tell me that employers should accommodate breastfeeding employees, and if it takes an additional hour out of their workday they should find a way to accommodate them so that it doesn’t. Plenty of women with private offices are able to work while they pump. If employees offer a separate, private lactation room women could more easily balance their families and their careers.

An Ontario YMCA repeatedly harrassed a woman who had the gall to *gasp* nurse her child poolside during her daughter’s swimming lesson. Yes, the YMCA, an organization that promotes family, told a mother who was feeding her child that she had to move because the YMCA is a “family-oriented” place.

Carolynn contacted The Ontario Human Rights Commission to file a complaint. The OHRC’s webpage says

You have rights as a nursing mother. For example, you have the right to breastfeed a child in a public area. No one should prevent you from nursing your child simply because you are in a public area. They should not ask you to “cover up”, disturb you, or ask you to move to another area that is more “discreet”

yet Carolynn was told by an employee that there was no violation, and that breastfeeding in public isn’t appropriate everywhere.

Carolynn is documenting her experience at her Mothernurture blog.

link via the Twinkies

Ontario Human Rights Commission, discrimination, nursing in public, breastfeeding

Facebook has joined Myspace in banning pictures of babies nursing. Nudity violates their terms of service so they’ve been pulling all pictures of breastfeeding where the breast is exposed.

I think this is pretty much ridiculous. I only joined Facebook a few weeks ago and haven’t really networked yet, but based on my experience on other social networking sites you’ll see more titty on some 16-year-old’s bikini shot than on a picture of a mother feeding her baby. I’ve seen profile pictures of half naked, underage girls taking bong hits and drinking beers which really makes one wonder about “terms of service.” My husband’s little cousin’s best friend actually has a video clip of people doing it on her Myspace page. Doing it!! How is breastfeeding obscene when I’m confronted with humping coupled with terrible top 40 rap songs? How is feeding a child obscene when I’m accosted by girls asses hanging out of their skanky little shorts while they’re open mouth kissing each other?

Getting back to Facebook, some women are complaining that they’ve pulled pictures where no breast is visible, which calls their motives into question. Other people whose pictures have been pulled have been banned from the site altogether and told they cannot rejoin.

Laws vary state to state, but companies cannot discriminate against breastfeeding mothers. This smacks of discrimination. Facebook may soon find themselves in trouble.

facebook bans breastfeeding photos, breastfeeding, obscenity, myspace, discrimination against breastfeeding women

The New York Times reports that one test stands between Sophie Currier and her Harvard medical degree. The problem? Currier is nursing her four month old daughter and needs time to pump during her nine hour board exam that allows only 45 minutes of break time.

The board initially denied her request, saying they can only accommodate conditions covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. They told Currier that she’d be able to pump during breaks in another testing room. Test rooms are monitored and have glass walls. I don’t know about you, but pumping is hard enough without being in a monitored glass room. With the pressure to pump an adequate amount in a short period of time I’d certainly have some difficulty with let down.

Breastfeeding is not a disability, but it’s a circumstance that requires many accommodations, especially when the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies nurse exclusively for the first six months of life. Aside from the baby’s well-being, Currier runs the risk of becoming painfully engorged and possibly getting mastitis if she’s unable to pump at least twice during the two nine-hour test sessions. I had mastitis at least three times in the first year of Sam’s life. It’s not fun.

I really feel for Currier. If the court rules against her she’s basically screwed. How on earth will she be able to eat, use the bathroom and pump in the short time provided? How will she be able to concentrate on her board exam as her she begins to painfully swell beneath her shirt as the testing day progresses? I’m curious to see how this one turns out. Massachusetts is one of the states that does not protect a woman’s right to nurse. Let’s hope they protect this woman’s rights.

breastfeeding, right to pump, Massachusetts breastfeeding laws, pumping rooms

If Currier’s request is granted, this could be a huge victory for women’s rights.

Based on the Applebee’s controversy I thought I’d bring up breastfeeding laws by state. Breastfeeding is not illegal in any state, but only 39 states have laws protecting a woman’s right to nurse in any public or private location.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.

If your state is not on the list write your state legislature to protect your right to breastfeed your child in public.

Other state breastfeeding laws include

* Twenty-one states exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin).
* Thirteen states have laws related to breastfeeding in the workplace (California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington).
* Twelve states exempt breastfeeding mothers from jury duty (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia).
* Four states have implemented or encouraged the development of a breastfeeding awareness education campaign (California, Illinois, Missouri, and Vermont).
* Virginia allows women to breastfeed on any land or property owned by the state.

Thank you NCSL.org for the information.

In a case that I find totally offensive in every way possible, a St. Cloud, Minnesota nursing mother in the middle of a custody battle was asked to stop breastfeeding by a court investigator.

Christa Burton, whose son Carter is now 15 months old, takes three different medications that are all listed as safe in the book Medications and Mothers’ Milk. The court made the recommendation based on testimony from a nurse practitioner who originally recommend that Burton breastfeed her child who was born 6 weeks premature. The court says that they’re erring on the side of safety, despite the fact that a doctor says about the medications, “They are basically all fine, particularly in a 14-month-old infant who can metabolize drugs as good if not better than an adult.”

Obviously I don’t know anything about this case other than the articles I’ve read, but it seems like the court is being totally misogynistic and anti-mother in this case. I’m sure that the father is probably threatened by the mother-son bond, and the fact that they’re still nursing threatens him even more. I can’t believe that this is fair game in a custody hearing, that the court is willing to ignore the numerous benefits of nursing a toddler to appease the father.

If you’re nursing a baby or toddler and are prescribed a medication make sure it’s safe for your child before you fill the prescription. Many unsafe medicines have safe alternatives. Medications and Mothers’ Milk sounds like a fantastic resource. I’ve been relying on the medication index in my copy of the Nursing Mother’s Companion.

Kellymom has an extensive list of the benefits of extended breastfeeding. Here are just a few of them.

1. Remedies
The main purpose of the previous post was to just point out different solutions. I know so many gals that used lanolin and it worked for them, but I also know so many gals for whom lanolin did not work. I’ve also heard that skin tone can made a big, big difference (i.e. fair, light-skinned gals may have a harder time initially). My primary complaint is that I wish the gel pads were offered on par with lanolin. I just came across a poll that listed “best gifts for nursing mothers” and gel pads weren’t even an option. I will be curious if I get cracked nipples this time around now that I will be going with Soothies from the very beginning - I’ll definitely report back!

2. Support groups
I came across this article about a group of local women in Canada who have banded together to provide even phone support for new mothers. The article brought tears to my eyes, but perhaps that was merely the pregnancy hormones kicking into high gear. When I was a new mother, I knew I was very fortunate to have such a good support group at my hospital AND my sister on speed dial (#5, Home Phone and #9, Cell Phone!). Since I was so grateful for the superb support that I received, I made an extra effort to continue attending the support group at my hospital long after I really needed it. I am hoping to be able to do so again this time around and am even trying to get a day school slot for my son on the day the group meets so that I won’t be dragging a 20 month old around all those newborns (new moms are a nervous bunch and sometimes don’t appreciate a toddler’s “gentle” touch to their baby’s oh-so-precious soft spot. I don’t blame them, either!). I think it is undisputed that La Leche League is unparalleled in what they have achieved in promoting breastfeeding and supporting new mothers. However, many mothers are very intimidated by the group and are hesitant to attend meetings. Yes, this is sad and I think some of the radical reputation attributed to LLL is unfounded and undeserved. Regardless, it remains a fact that many new mothers aren’t attending LLL meetings and in that vein, I get excited whenever I see alternative options for new mothers.

3. Massachusetts Gets a Clue?
I was very excited to see that Massachusetts is mulling a breastfeeding law! This is personal to me, actually. My husband started a new business a few months ago and for a variety of reasons it is currently based out of the Boston area. If this new business takes off, there is a very likely possibility that we will move to that area next year. Anyway, my breastfeeding experiences in Boston have all been positive, but it would still be nice to see a law out there.

4. Not Quite Sure I Want to Celebrate THIS Celebrity
I saw this bit from Larry the Cable Guy and he is discussing his take on his son’s apparent unappreciative nature towards breastfeeding. It IS funny and I do think the Blue Collar Comedy Tour guys are pretty entertaining. Still….

Yesterday, the Oregon Senate passed a law to support breastfeeding in the workplace. In short, the bill “The bill requires employers of 25 or more employees to provide a mother unpaid time and a private place to express milk every four hours during the work day.” The bill does provide an exception for the business if an undue hardship would be placed upon the business. This law now brings the number of states that have laws regarding nursing mothers in the workplace to 13! Kudos to Oregon!

I cannot speak to personal experience with juggling the workplace and breastfeeding needs, other than as a sideline observer. It always horrified me when mothers had to pump in the restroom, though. That was just wrong - I knew that much. I worked for employers that seemed generally supportive of it. However, in my observations, it wasn’t the employers who were the problem, but rather, the employees. Over the years, time and time again, I have seen working mothers go back to work and get sucked into a maelstrom of meetings and projects. I’ve seen mothers attempt to schedule consistent time frames for pumping only to have co-workers schedule a meeting knowing there was a conflict (a common practice for everyone at a particular Giant Corporate Telecom in the Kansas City area). Part of this is simply logistics - when you are trying to assemble a meeting of 6 or more folks, sometimes, the person scheduling the meeting has to go with the time slot that works for the majority of the folks.

I think the most common lack of knowledge amongst the coworkers is that they don’t understand that a mother HAS to pump on a fairly consistent schedule or her milk supply may suffer (I’ve had this similar misunderstanding on the part of non-breastfeeding friends who didn’t understand that because of engorgement it is physically painful for me to be away from my child for 4 hours - even when my son was past newborn stage.) The general rule of thumb seems to be that for every feeding your child has while away from you, there needs to be a pumping. Sure, a mother has some flexibility with this and could pump in the evening or early hours before she goes to work, but regardless, there would need to be a least a pumping or two during work hours.

Hopefully, laws such as the one Oregon just passed will continue to be the norm and there will be more education and understanding on the part of employers AND employees. Besides, in all my years of working, I never, ever knew a cigarette smoker to go without their nicotine fix. Surely, time can be carved out for nursing mothers.