Making Breastfeeding Work at Work

Moms at work with their babies at The Milk Bank in Indianapolis
Moms at work with their babies at The Milk Bank in Indianapolis

 At Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas, we have been lucky to have a baby in our workplace all summer. Accommodating this concept is new territory for a lot of companies and organizations.  Janice Sneider O'Rourke, Executive Director of The Milk Bank in Indianapolis, shares her insight about why it has worked for them too.

Making Breastfeeding Work at Work: 5 Benefits of Babies to the Workplace

The idea came to me one Friday night in September. It was 2011 and one of our employees who was exclusively breastfeeding her 4-month-old baby had just lost her childcare and was scrambling to find adequate care that would allow her to maintain her employment with us. “Bring the baby to work," I said when I called her that night. We didn’t have a formalized policy then like we do now, but it was the beginning of our commitment to supporting our employees in their breastfeeding journey. Since that time, we have welcomed two other babies into the office with their full-time and part-time working moms and have adopted a formalized “Breastfeeding in the Workplace” policy. 

Shaina, Director of Operations, brings her 4 month old son, Noah, to work at Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas in Fort Worth.
Shaina, Director of Operations, brings her 4 month old son, Noah, to work at Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas in Fort Worth.

We commit to welcoming any breastfed baby at The Milk Bank within the first 6 months. We believe that every baby should have access to human milk including the children of our employees. We commit to making every effort to ensure our employees' job duties will allow for the easy care of their babies and we trust that our employees will make the best judgment when it comes to the safety of their baby. This year’s World Breastfeeding Week's theme was “Breastfeeding and Work – Let’s Make It Work”. To celebrate National Breastfeeding Month, we’ve put together a list of the benefits we have found from having our babies with us at work: 

Shaina says, "Bringing Noah to work with me is perfect. I can breastfeed, do the job that I love and get snuggles in between."
Shaina says, "Bringing Noah to work with me is perfect. I can breastfeed, do the job that I love and get snuggles in between."
  1. Our employees are loyal: We have found that our employees appreciate the extra time they get to spend with their baby and often find ways to work longer.
  2. Our employees miss less work: By being able to directly breastfeed, our office babies are hardly ever sick, therefore, our employees miss less work.
  3. Our employees are happy: Not just the moms who have their babies in the office but also the rest of us. There is nothing like a baby to reduce stress and frustration. A baby's smile has the ability to lift the mood in an instant.
  4. Our babies are happy: You might assume that having a baby in the office would be a nuisance, but we have found that our office babies are happy. They very rarely cry and, in general, are content to be snuggled by anyone around the office.
  5. It’s the right thing to do: If a human milk bank cannot be baby-friendly, who can?

Janice Sneider O'Rourke, MPA, RD is the Executive Director of The Milk Bank in Indianapolis. She received her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Bowling Green State University and has been a Registered Dietician for 23 years.  She received a Master of Public Health from IUPUI and spent over 11 years in public service with both the Arkansas Department of Health and the Indiana State Department of Health before moving to the non-profit sector.