Harrisburg

Harrisburg Library lactation room offers privacy for nursing moms

@font-face { font-family: "Times";}@font-face { font-family: "New York";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }A new lactation station, or "mother's room," has opened recently in Penn State Harrisburg Library, offering a private and secure location for breastfeeding moms to express and store milk. The Harrisburg campus now has two mother's rooms, bringing the total number across Penn State to 11, including six at University Park.

Librarian Heidi Abbey, co-chair of a committee that was responsible for setting up the new space, said the room serves a great need of a growing campus. "Many of our students are nontraditional adult learners and graduate students who have children and are breastfeeding," said Abbey. Students or employees need to register in advance to use the room, which is equipped with a breast pump, refrigerator, small resource library and rocking chair that was purchased with a student activities fund grant.

Abbey and committee co-chair Jenifer Rianne-Estep Carricato, a student, received strong support from Harrisburg Library Director Greg Crawford and library staff to set up the mother's room and worked closely with Human Resources, Wellness Services, Student Services and the Commission for Women. She offers the following suggestions for units or committees considering the creation of a mother's room:

-- Contact the main University Breastfeeding Support Program administrator, Lauren Lowe (814-867-0776 / breastfeeding@psu.edu).
-- Visit the Breastfeeding Support Program website and understand the University's mission and goals concerning breastfeeding support.
-- Be in compliance with Policy HR20: Breastfeeding Support.
-- Consider where the students are during the day on your campus. If you are located 15 minutes away from where classes are held, a student probably won't have time to use your facility.
-- Have a student representative on your committee and also try to get someone on the committee who has experience with breastfeeding.

 

Penn State Harrisburg Librarian Heidi Abbey. Credit: Sharon Siegfried / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated July 17, 2012