The Proposal of the house #127 was for moms to be allowed to have 1 hour paid
leave divided in 30 minute slots in the AM and PM (or middle of their shifts)
until the baby was a year old.

Well, there were many testifying for the moms including Dr. Ana Parrilla, MD,
IBCLC from the School of Public Health spoke as did her boss, who gives a great
talk on the Lactational Amenorrhea Method and is a wonderful OB, Dr. Yvette
Piovannetti of the AAP recommended that they do not require monthly pediatrician
statements as babies are only seen every other month and requiring an additional
visit would cause hardship for families and over-full offices.  People spoke
from unions, La Leche League, and many other organizations.

However, the Chamber of Commerce, the PR equivalent of the GAO (General
Accounting office) and the Manufacturer's association all spoke against it
saying this would reduce Puerto Rico's global competitiveness as new business
would not set up here due to the additional cost of replacing a worker while she
was pumping.

My speech was basically a "lactation 101" - how breasts make milk, what happens
if they're not emptied regularly, etc.  (We had divided the talks to avoid all
of us speaking to the benefits of Breastfeeding).

The House of Representatives had a beautiful (I am told, I didn't attend)
session last night in which many spoke of being breastfed or helping their wives
or daughters bf.  They unanimously passed the bill - with one abstention from a
woman who said she felt this would be detrimental to women as when a woman and a
man came to a job interview a man would be favored because he wouldn't be likely
to require this breastfeeding break...

Now the Senate is going at it - but unfortunately they are trying to change it
to only adding 15 minutes to the lunch break.  (Guess they need Lactation 101).
Have a gut-feeling that this is not going to pass, but it has certainly brought
breastfeeding to the newspapers, radio and TV waves much more than any publicity
campaign.

All these speeches are part of the public record, but are in Spanish.  It has
been fun to learn a little about what goes on in the legislature.  I cannot
lobby due to the grant I work for, but can speak as I did (expert witness)
since I got a letter from the House saying I was to appear in front of the
Women's Affairs Committee - or I would be considered in contempt of congress!
(Gentle way of putting it!)

Isn't it amazing what breastfeeding one baby 25 years ago can take someone???

Jeanette Panchula, BA-SW, RN, IBCLC, LLLL
"expert witness"
Puerto Rico
[log in to unmask]

See you in Washington!  Flying in on Monday the 30th (8:54 PM AA from JFK in New
York) because I'm taking the Peer Counselor Trainer course also - the cost of
one flight and I could do both!