According to Acelleron’s latest Human Resources Report, 90 percent of breastfeeding moms are either pumping at work, or are planning to pump at work, despite breastfeeding being one of the biggest challenges when returning to work from parental leave.
Breastfeeding has tremendous health benefits for both mom and baby and is strongly encouraged by the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics. For employers, this is great news as breastfeeding in the workplace results in significant health care savings and higher retention rates.
Acelleron is a health and wellness company that provides breast pumps through health insurance plans as well as employer lactation programs. The company disseminates a Return to Work survey to over 3,000 moms a month who receive a breast pump through their health insurance from Acelleron. The survey data aids in better understanding of breastfeeding decisions, duration, and challenges influenced by returning to work after having a baby.
“When looking at some of the key statistics in our report, only 50 percent of our moms’ employers have a lactation/mother’s room to pump in and 78 percent of these moms stated their employer has greater than 50 employees, meaning these companies are not meeting the federal requirements for protecting breastfeeding women in the workplace.”
“With the increasing trend of moms wanting to feed their babies human milk, companies need to better support breastfeeding employees returning to work,” Jason Canzano, managing director of Acelleron, said. “When looking at some of the key statistics in our report, only 50 percent of our moms’ employers have a lactation/mother’s room to pump in and 78 percent of these moms stated their employer has greater than 50 employees, meaning these companies are not meeting the federal requirements for protecting breastfeeding women in the workplace.”
“The good news, despite many employers not having a room to pump in, almost 83 percent of moms still feel their employers are supportive of their breastfeeding/pumping needs,” Canzano said. “However, nearly 25 percent of the moms surveyed have considered a job/career change due to their need to pump at work. Despite the improving nursing laws and employer benefits, employers still need to do a better job supporting breastfeeding mothers returning to work.”
The data collected from the Return to Work survey is used to help Acelleron achieve its mission to increase breastfeeding rates, especially when moms return to work. This mission is carried out in various ways, including providing a fully covered breast pump through the mother’s health insurance plan, as well as making pumping at work easy through their Pump@Work employer benefit program. Pump@Work is the first lactation room subscription service that removes the hassle of lugging breastfeeding equipment, supplies, and milk-boosting snacks back and forth to work for pumping employees.
To receive Acelleron’s Human Resources Report, please download it here.
