UnityPoint Health enhanced its lactation rooms this summer across its four hospital campuses in the Quad Cities and Muscatine, Iowa, to help support working mothers.
Through a $500 grant from the Kerby Family Foundation, the Trinity Health Foundation made several additions to lactation rooms to make breastfeeding more comfortable for working mothers, according to a news release. The improvements included:
- Phone stands, phone charging stations, pillows and foot stools.
- Boards for mothers to leave motivational messages.
- Artwork.
- Nursing cream samples and sanitize spray for breast pumps.
- Information on breastfeeding resources.
“Lactation rooms are a private space that allow our team members a quiet place to go and pump breast milk at work in a safe and comfortable way,” Rebecca Kerby, a nurse practitioner and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant at UnityPoint Health – Trinity, said in the release.
“With these updates, we hope to improve the experience for moms that are returning to work and support them through that transition.”
About 70% of working mothers with children younger than three years work full-time, UnityPoint Health said in the release, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One-third of these mothers return to work within three months after birth, and two-thirds return within six months.
“Supporting breastfeeding mothers as they return to the workforce is a great way to show our team members and families that they matter,” said Jenna Hart, human resources business partner at UnityPoint Health.
“As healthcare providers, we understand the importance of supporting breastfeeding moms.”
