Press Statement on Breastfeeding Discrimination in the Workplace by AAP President Donald Cook, M.D., FAAP The American Academy of Pediatrics and its 55,000 pediatricians support Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney's efforts to end discrimination of breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. As pediatricians, we know from experience the value of breastfeeding. Breast milk is the best source of nutrition for babies and the Academy recommends breastfeeding for the first year of life. In order to encourage mothers to breastfeed, we must foster a positive environment where they can feel comfortable. With the passage of this legislation, that positive attitude can extend beyond hospitals and homes and into the workplace.
Many women stop breastfeeding when they return to work outside the home.
Because of this, not enough babies in this country are breastfed and few are breastfed for the recommended one year. The Academy believes that more babies would receive the benefits of breast milk if more employers provided appropriate facilities and adequate time in the workplace for expression of breast milk. A woman certainly should not be fired or discriminated against for breastfeeding or expressing breast milk during her own lunch time or break time. Research indicates that breastfeeding provides health, nutritional, immunologic, developmental, psychological, social, economic and environmental advantages for babies that are unmatched by formula feeding. But the benefits are not only for the infant.