The Women’s Center—whose staff includes, left to right, Emery Johnson, administrative assistant; Candace Rypisi, director; and Jennifer Cichocki, assistant director—hosts the campus lactation room.

Lactation room helps working mothers

When graduate student Christine Esber Richardson returned to campus and her program in solar energy research after having her baby, she wanted to continue breast-feeding. Caltech’s lactation room in the Caltech Women’s Center made it possible.

“We definitely knew that breast milk was best for the baby,” says Esber Richardson, who pumped twice a day and also rode her bike home at lunchtime to feed baby Aiden until he was seven months old. “It was great to know that I could feed him and still work on campus. I knew that I could go home and be sure that my milk production would be sufficient to provide for his nutrition.”

Esber Richardson, pursuing a program in applied physics, is one of seven women, mostly staff and graduate students, who have used the lactation room during the past year. Located in the Center for Student Services, the space otherwise serves as the Women’s Center library-lounge, and contains breast-feeding information, a hospital-caliber breast pump, a small refrigerator in which users can store expressed milk, nearby access to a sink, and a comfortable couch and chair.

Employer-provided lactation rooms are a national trend, says Amy Seidel Malak, who coordinates the WorkLife Program for the Staff and Faculty Consultation Center, oversees the lactation room, and provides lactation classes. Such services are increasingly mandated by law. California in 2002 joined a growing number of states requiring employers to provide break time, and a room, other than a bathroom stall, where women can express milk.

Society’s growing recognition that mother’s milk provides the best nutrition for infants aside, the logistics of breast-feeding can seem insurmountable to new mothers returning to work, Malak says. If the location isn’t convenient, women may find it difficult to pump frequently enough to maintain an adequate milk supply.

“We’ve made great strides, getting a place on campus, but that was a first step,” Malak says, adding that she’d like to see several such rooms placed strategically around the campus. She also plans to build a “holistic” program that includes prenatal and postnatal breast-feeding support, as well as assistance in locating quality childcare.

Jean Shin, Athenaeum marketing and membership coordinator, had a less positive experience with the lactation center, but applauds the effort. “They were great with follow-up, and asked me what worked and what didn’t.” She used the room for only one week, saying, “You have to have someone let you in and out. I felt like it was an imposition on others. I would prefer to have a room where you could go in and lock the door yourself.” Since then, she has found an alternative location to pump, and still feeds her baby, Alexander, at lunchtime.

Candace Rypisi, director of the Women’s Center, offered the use of the lounge, which users can reserve on a sign-up sheet. “We knew there were mothers out there who had been asking for it.

“I think for new mothers, whether or not they use the lactation room, having that space open to them helps create a perception of a workplace that cares about them and their needs. I like knowing the space is being used.”

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