Breastfeeding in the military: Part I. Information and resources provided to service women

Military Medicine, Oct 2003 by Bell, Michael R, Ritchie, Elspeth Cameron

To meet this goal of revolutionizing business practices and policies, it may be helpful to benchmark internally and against other federal agencies (Table II).

A few DoD work sites already have strong programs in place. For instance, the National Security Agency has had an outstanding lactation support program since the late 1980s. It served as the template for several of the programs at agencies listed in Table II. Twelve nursing mothers' rooms are distributed throughout the National Security Agency facility. Approximately 125 women are enrolled in the program at any given time. The program has the full support of the command, and administrative policies regarding time and space for breastfeeding have been incorporated into the local human resources regulations. Supervisors and employees receive periodic information about managing breastfeeding in the workplace. This creates an environment of mutual understanding and cooperation. It is felt that the program benefits both mothers and the agency.

In terms of laws related to breastfeeding at work, the Right to Breastfeed Act was enacted into law in September 1999. This statute "ensures a woman's right to breastfeed anywhere on federal property where she and her child are authorized to be."42 Legislation is currently pending before Congress that seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding mothers.43,44 Laws in 21 states provide affirmative statutory establishment of the right to breastfeed. The statutes in Connecticut and New Jersey include fines and imprisonment provisions for public establishments that infringe on a woman's right to breastfeed.45 Minnesota, Tennessee, and Hawaii require employers to accommodate breastfeeding mothers who return to work by providing unpaid break time for breastfeeding (unless doing so would unduly disrupt the operations of the employer) and making reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location close to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where the employee can express her breast milk in privacy. Additionally, in Hawaii it is considered an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to "refuse to hire or employ, or bar or discharge from employment, or withhold pay, demote, or penalize a lactating employee because an employee breastfeeds or expresses milk at the workplace."46

Official Service Policies

Currently, there is minimal DoD policy guidance concerning breastfeeding. All services provide 42 days of convalescent leave after delivery and deferment from deployment until 4 months (the Coast Guard allows 6 months) postpartum.32 The Navy is the only service that has a written policy that directly addresses breastfeeding. Guidance regarding breastfeeding is included as part of the regulation that governs management of pregnant service women.47 The policy allows women to breastfeed during time allotted for breaks and meals provided that they have permission from their commander. The Navy also provides the most detailed advice of any service for the assessment of possible risks of breastfeeding in its guide to reproductive and developmental hazards for occupational health professionals.48