Breastfeeding Best Practices in Higher Education

A majority of women return to work or school after the birth of their children. The return can be a stressful event, especially if a mom is breastfeeding and needs to pump while away from her child. Many policies and programs have been put in place to support families as they transition back to work. Colleges and universities are no exception and many have family-friendly policies in place.

In Breastfeeding Best Practices in Higher Education, Michele Vancour, PhD, MPH, and Michele Griswold, MPH, RN, IBCLC, have pulled together information on the lactation policies and practices at several universities in the U.S. Their goal is to provide information to help others implement similar programs. National public policy initiatives, such as Healthy People 2020, the Affordable Care Act, The Business Case for Breastfeeding, and The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding have set objectives for all employers to meet. Employers know why it is necessary to set up lactation support programs, but they may not know how to do it. That’s where this book comes in. It tells how George Washington University, University of Rhode Island, University of California Davis, University of Arizona, Michigan State University, and Johns Hopkins University developed their lactation support programs and includes policies, lactation room guidelines, and tracking information. Each chapter is written by a person that was instrumental in setting up the programs at the various universities.

Although this book contains information directed to universities, it could be applied to any business or organization thinking of setting up a lactation program. Novel ideas, like having a vending machine to dispense pump parts in the lactation room, will work anywhere!