At Maternity Care Coalition, we are working to make breastfeeding accessible and safe for mothers and their children. To accomplish this, we are encouraging policy makers to support HB-11oo, the Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act, which would promote workplace fairness by ensuring that nursing moms have a private, sanitary place to express breast milk and reasonable break time to do so across the state of Pennsylvania.
Returning to work and continuing to breastfeed may pose a challenge for a significant proportion of new moms in Pennsylvania. Two out of three Pennsylvania women who gave birth in the past year are working outside the home. Experts, including the Pennsylvania Department of Health, recommend breastfeeding to promote both the health of the mother and baby. Breast milk contains antibodies that protect infants from bacteria and viruses, and studies show that breastfed babies have fewer ear, respiratory and urinary tract infections and have diarrhea less often. Yet nursing workers in Pennsylvania are often deprived of break time to express milk and are forced to pump milk in unsanitary spaces with no privacy.
– The American Civil Liberties Union of Philadelphia
Join us in supporting HB1100 and breastfeeding mothers across Pennsylvania. The bill is good for mothers—and therefore good for business.
