Hi.  My name is Vanessa.  I am a junior nursing student at the University 
of North Dakota.  This semester I am taking a childbearing/maternal health 
class.  I joined this listserv to gain a new experience and to learn more 
about the current issues in breastfeeding.
	My goal is to someday be an OB nurse, and breastfeeding is an area 
that I have a special passion about.  I have recently come to realize how 
important it is for a breastfeeding mother to have her employers’ support 
in order to have a successful breastfeeding experience.  I have done some 
research about this subject.
	A study was done by Ortiz, McGilligan, and Kelly (2004) to explore 
the success of breastfeeding in working mothers who are enrolled in an 
employer-sponsored lactation program.  These companies that employed the 
mothers provided education, private rooms for pumping, electric pumps, and 
insulated tote bags for the mothers.  In this study, 97.5% of these 
mothers left the hospital breastfeeding.  At six months, 57.8% were still 
breastfeeding, and at 1 year, 18.2% were (Ortiz, McGilligan, and Kelly).
	Another study was done by Witters-Green (2003).  This study 
interviewed fourteen employers concerning their policies, attitudes, and 
beliefs regarding breastfeeding by their employees.  Of these fourteen 
employers, none could name ways in which an employer/place of employment 
would benefit from a mother continuing to breastfeed her child after 
returning to work (Witters-Green, 2003).  Also, none of these employment 
sites had a policy about breastfeeding.
	Brown, Poag, and Kasprzycki (2001) conducted an interview of large 
and small employers regarding their attitudes and policies on 
breastfeeding.  In this study, ever participant recognized that breast 
milk is higher quality than formula, yet none of these companies had a 
breastfeeding policy.  They simply handled the situations when they 
presented themselves.
	My biggest question is what is your experience with breastfeeding 
policies in the workplace?  Does your agency have a policy on 
breastfeeding?

Thanks you,
Vanessa, SN

Brown, C., Poag, S., and Kasprzycki, C. (2001).  J Hum Lact, 17(1), 39-46.

Ortiz, J., McGilligan, K., and Kelly, P. (2004).  Duration of breast milk 

expression among working mothers enrolled in an employer-

sponsored lactation program.  Pediatric Nursing, 30(2), 111-119.

Witters-Green, R. (2003).  Increasing breastfeeding rates in working 
	
	Mothers.  Journal of Collaborative Family HealthCare, 21(4), 415-

	433.

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