I had my first baby in April and just went back to work in September. My pumping situation is technically legal, but … it’s a gym equipment closet. I’ve learned from talking to friends recently that there are lots of people dealing with subpar pumping situations at work. I’m curious if there is any correlation between the quality of pumping space in the workplace and length of breastfeeding. While I feel maternity leave should be improved in the U.S., I also wonder if there’s a correlation between quality of pumping space and rate of returning to work or length of leave taken.
—Pumping Among Jump Ropes
This is a great question. It is very surprising what counts as a legal pumping space. At a past job, I once had to tape paper over a large window that was part of the door to the pumping room I was given. I digress! A gym closet sounds … problematic.
This is obviously tough to answer because the quality of pumping accommodations closely lines up with other supports. My experience suggests that Big Tech firms often have extremely nice pumping locations. But they also have six months of paid leave, and a workforce with many advantages.
There is one study (from 2016) that shows that women who have adequate break time and a private place to pump are 2.3 times as likely to be breastfeeding at six months. This isn’t quite the question you are asking, since it’s not differentiating the quality of the location, and we’re still concerned about correlation versus causality. Still, it points to the idea that pumping location could matter.
I can find no evidence on worker retention. Unfortunately, I suspect this is because what suffers when people do not have a comfortable place to pump is breastfeeding, not work. I would love to see someone do some high-quality research on this, because I think that’s what it would take to push employers to invest in making it better.
In the meantime, I suppose, enjoy the jump ropes.
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