Breastfeeding while working poor

[Aimless]

Summary thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...?refreshed=yes

Federal law - if it covers you - guarantees reasonable time and a clean space to pump at work, thanks to Obamacare. We found employers all over the country had violated that law -- including household names like Walmart, Lowes, McDonald's, IHOP and the US Postal Service. 2/X

There's a lot of pressure on women to breastfeed for as long as they can. The reality is many bosses make it impossible. In so many cases, women said they gave up on breastfeeding because they couldn't get breaks or had to pump somewhere filthy. 3/X

Some of the most common violations were in restaurants and retail. Not a surprise -- the law tends to cover hourly workers, and it can be really hard to get breaks in those fields. At one IHOP, a server said she only got two breaks to pump over the course of 20 days. 4/X

In one heartbreaking story, a Walmart worker who couldn't pump at work gave up on breastfeeding. She couldn't afford formula, so her colleagues pooled money when they saw her crying. It took the store two months to get in line with the law -- way too late for her. 5/X

We found five cases where women said their inability to pump led to painful breast infections. That includes one worker whose boss stood outside the nursing room and *timed her while she pumped* 6/X

In one case at the U.S. Postal Service, a woman who couldn't get breaks had to pump into the toilet to relieve the pressure in her breasts because it hurt so bad. Sometimes she pumped on the locker room floor. She got a 7-day suspension. 7/X

There were 22 cases where women were retaliated against for pumping at work, including having their pay docked and even getting fired. A lot of women only reported their employers after they had left their jobs, because they were afraid. 8/X

And guess what? Some of the most common violators of the law are hospitals, including "baby friendly" ones. How can that be? Nurses have a very hard time getting breaks, cuz the patient always comes first. My colleague @ksophiewill digs into that here:

Article:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-e...b0a938a42ef3f5

Presumably, many mothers with newborns who know themselves to have an employer such as the ones described above never even bother to try, and many others who do try presumably never lodge a complaint for the govt. investigate. You can debate all day long about the pros and cons of breastfeeding, but what the article describes is a pretty sad state of affairs. Booby obstructors are thumbds down

[RandBlade]

They all sound like terrible employers. Until recently I had an employee who was breastfeeding. Her partner would every day bring the baby in and she would have a break to feed the baby whenever she wanted to do so. She'd already had the baby when she applied for the job and asked in the interview if it would be an issue, I said definitely not! Never come up before as any mother's we'd had previously who'd given birth had gone on maternity leave until after they'd finished feeding, but she was starting work so different situation.

Feeding a baby is non-optional. I can't think what goes through the heads of anyone who seeks to obstruct it.

[Hazir]

Well, in a society obsessed with woman's breast its impossible to treat breastfeeding for what it is.

fun tidbit from Saudi Arabia

[RandBlade]

Not if you don't have your head implanted within your arse its not.

A baby needs to eat. Its no more complicated than that.

Babies hungry? Baby eats. End of story, move on. Mother needs to pump? Same thing, do it, end of story.

[RandBlade]

Um, just noticed one practical thing in that link after reading it that might be an issue in some places, is the idea that pumping should be done somewhere "free from intrusion" - a lot of places may not have anywhere like that. My colleague who needed to feed her baby did so in a common area, she was more than welcome to do so and nobody ever thought twice about it. I think we've thankfully here at least moved past the idea that feeding is something to be hidden away. Mothers and babies should feed wherever they damn well please.

Somewhere guaranteed not to have an intrusion could be a challenge though. I don't have an answer to that, and not sure if that only applies to large employers or all. Given it says "employers like Walmart" I assume it only refers to large employers so fair enough for them.

[GGT]

The US claims to care about mothers, children, families...but policy says otherwise. Breast feeding is considered a "luxury", and pumping breast milk its counterpart. The working poor resort to feeding their babies formula, because that's covered by Medicaid. We have turned the definition of Public Welfare on its head.

GogoUSA#1!



ps Hazir your link is bad