Supporting Breastfeeding and Lactating Student Parents

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I would like to share some information from The Pregnant Scholar. Here is a link to join the national work group.

Strategies for Equity on US Campuses

  • Learn your university structure & student needs
  • Build lasting partnerships between departments
  • Incorporate lactation services into existing systems
  • Robust policy solutions are vital – know your rights!
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The Making It Work Tool Kit for lactating parents is a resource to help breastfeeding parents return to work. It is designed to assist breastfeeding parents, their employers, and their family. Breastfeeding is one of the few immune boosters that we currently can offer to our infants during this global pandemic. Breastfeeding rates increase dramatically with support.

How can we support lactating educators as they return to work? 

  • Be an Advocate: Reach out to educators who may be challenged right now with balancing their desire to continue to breastfeed/express milk during the day and keeping up with the class schedule. 
  • Help to Create Safe and Clean Spaces: Teachers and school staff may need to use existing space, such as a small office, the nurse’s office, a teacher resource room, or a screened-off area of a conference room, to express or pump milk. Let others know if your classroom can be used during your planning period.  
  • Support education: School-based breastfeeding education helps improve breastfeeding rates in the long term by instilling in young people a base of evidence-informed knowledge, skills, and attitudes that primes them to make informed decisions about infant feeding and to become positive change agents. Breastfeeding rates in Durham remain below the national average. Please let us know if we can connect you to training or activity kits in whatever form might work best for your classroom. 

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