Breastfeeding-Friendly Community Partners are businesses or organizations that welcome and support chestfeeding/breastfeeding/nursing families in their establishments. Awardees demonstrate their welcome and support by providing a welcoming atmosphere for families; respecting the nourishment of a child and never asking families to leave, cover up, or move during a feeding; and ensuring that all members/employees who represent the establishment fulfill these requirements. In addition, our Community Partners declare that they do not advertise infant formula or related products directly to their consumers. Businesses/organizations making this commitment create spaces where families can keep chest/breastfeeding and feel welcomed to meet their infant feeding goals in all the places where they live and shop and play. Recipients of the Breastfeeding-Friendly Community Partner Award can proudly display the Breastfeeding-Friendly window cling as a symbol of their commitment and notice to families in their community.

Breastfeeding-Friendly Employers provide workplaces that have made accommodations to support families that wish to continue nursing their infants after returning to work. An awardee demonstrates support by creating and implementing a policy that allows flexible breaks for expressing milk and ensuring employees have access to a private room for expressing milk or nursing that is not a bathroom. The room is required to have a comfortable chair, electrical outlet, and a lock on the door. A hand hygiene station should also be accessible. In addition, our Breastfeeding Friendly Employers pledge not to advertise infant formula or related products directly to employees or consumers. Employers who receive this award are publicly committing to creating an environment where human milk is a priority for their employees and families. Recipients of the Breastfeeding-Friendly Employer Award can proudly display the Breastfeeding-Friendly window cling as a symbol of their commitment and notice to families in their community.

In addition to contributing to the economic and health benefits of supporting breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding families in North Carolina, Breastfeeding-Friendly Community Partners and Employers will:

• [have] recognition in their community as organizations that support families

• [be] listed on our website

• [be] celebrated at our regional meetings

– February 1: receive the award notification in March

– July 1: receive the award notification in August

As an employer, a good first step is to have a written lactation support policy and to provide an orientation to the policy for all employees. This is a required step for the award. The policy includes, but is not limited to, the protections for lactating employees that also are required for the award: 1) lactating employees are allowed breaks to express milk or nurse their children and 2) they have access to a private space, not a bathroom, that has an electrical outlet and hand hygiene nearby. These provisions align with the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act. To do more to support your employees, flexible return to work policies, onsite childcare, prenatal breastfeeding classes, and postpartum breastfeeding support groups are all great additions to a breastfeeding-friendly work environment.

For the award, an employer is required to provide “Access to a private space for expressing milk or nursing. The space is not a bathroom. The space is lockable and shielded from view. The space has an electrical outlet and hand hygiene station.” To do more for your employees, consider creating a high-quality lactation room that has a small table close to an electrical outlet where the employee can put their pump (or a pump provided by the employer), and a refrigerator for milk storage. Other amenities may include nursing art or a place for baby pictures, a telephone, a music player, a wall clock, and a sink for washing hands and cleaning equipment.

As a business, having a written policy that welcomes and supports a customer’s right to nurse and providing training for staff on that policy is a good place to start. As part of the award application, an employer or community partner is required to affirm that “Nursing families are always welcome and respected. They will never be treated poorly, asked to stop feeding, or asked to cover up or move.” Other ways to support nursing customers can be to provide access to a private room for nursing or expressing milk with a comfortable chair and a lock on the door for expressing milk, or nursing, if desired, and to display print resources and materials for breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding promotion.

North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition has been a proud participant in the national effort to increase breastfeeding-friendliness in the workplace by implementing the resources of The Business Case for Breastfeeding Toolkit. Most recently, we have partnered with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Moms Rising, and Eat Smart Move More North Carolina to bring you the NC Making it Work Toolkit. The Toolkit is available in English and Spanish, and you can access the information by clicking on the links.

NC Making It Work Tool Kit:

https://workwellnc.com/NCMakingItWork.php

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