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Majority of U.S. airports lack adequate breastfeeding facilities

Katy B. Olson | March 12, 2017

Travel can be stressful as it is, but imagine trying to find your gate with a wailing newborn and no lactation room in sight? Forget about flight delays! New moms have to cope with a number of hurdles while traveling. Breastfeeding-friendly airports offer significant benefits to breastfeeding mothers on the go; unfortunately, a recent study published in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, found that only a few of the 100 U.S. airports surveyed offered adequate breastfeeding facilities.

The topic of breastfeeding accommodations has been in the news lately (we’ve discussed workplace lactation rooms here). Federal and state laws protect a mother’s right to breastfeed, and, as Breastfeeding Medicine explains, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide hourly waged nursing mothers a private place other than a bathroom, shielded from view, free from intrusion.” Workplace lactation laws are on the books in 24 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.https://wtop.com/news/2014/10/bwi-among-most-friendly-airports-in-nation-for-nursing-mothers/

The Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan has designated nursing rooms. U.S. airports aren’t as accommodating. From Tzuhsun Hsu.

Yet accommodations for breastfeeding women who travel are not guaranteed. This particular survey “aimed to determine which airports offer the minimum requirements for a breast-pumping mother: private space other than a bathroom, with chair, table, and electrical outlet,” and surveyed customer service reps at 100 airports in the U.S. Of the respondents, 37 percent said that their facilities had designated lactation rooms, while 25 percent said that the airport’s unisex/family restroom qualified as a lactation room.

Despite these affirmative responses, only 8 percent of the airports surveyed offered a space other than a bathroom, outfitted with a chair, table and electrical outlet. Yet a shocking 62 percent “answered yes” when asked if their airport was breastfeeding-friendly. The surveyors’ takeaway from the study: “Airports need to be educated as to the minimum requirements for a lactation room.”

Baltimore Washington International Airport, or BWI, was one of the most breastfeeding-friendly airports surveyed. As local news outlet WTOP reports, BWI shares the friendliest airport designation with San Francisco International, San Jose International, Indianapolis International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, Dane County Regional in Wisconsin, Akron-Canton Regional in Ohio, and Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional in Florida. Airport spokesman Jonathan Dean told WTOP, “At BWI we certainly believe that nursing mothers and their children should have options.”

Forty-six states, as well as D.C. and the Virgin Islands, have laws on the books that specifically permit women to breastfeed in any public or private location, while 29 states, as well as D.C. and the Virgin Islands, “exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws.” Certain states also have particular requirements; New York, for one, has a Breastfeeding Mothers Bill of Rights, which is required to be posted in maternal health facilities.

Schools, malls, certain shops — especially those selling baby product, such as Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Motherhood Maternity — and other public areas may offer lactation rooms. Consult local laws, check in with other new moms, and peruse local motherhood blogs for further information (for example, New York City moms can check out Mommy Poppins’ list). You can also consult breastfeeding advocacy groups and their online forums, such as the La Leche League.