Lock up your breast feeders (literally)!

[RubberTeeth]

Just passed through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport and saw one of these cabins.

Touted as a convenience to nursing mothers, but I am really not so sure.

Years ago, I flew variously to New York, Moscow and Hong Kong with my breastfed 5 month old - and managed perfectly well in those various airports.

Are "lactation suites" really an improvement??

(BTW, Atlanta is an airport of awesome immigration inefficiency that I urge all to avoid.)

Work places in US (well the state where we lived) are supossed to supply a private room where Mums can pump

In all states - it's federal law.

It’s quite obviously for pumping; not feeding. There’s no way I would have pumped in public. Feeding is completely different.

Hey @Semster, you seem very snotty. Or did I get that wrong too?

I simply asked a question, as people often do on a discussion forum.

Thanks for the various corrections and observations people.

BTW, in my day (living in the UK), my employer had to make a space available for me to pump.

What, at the airport?! I don't think this is for airport employees, who I'm sure do get a different, private place to pump, but for travellers. You also quite often get special spaces set aside at US conferences for women to pump; it's just because they go back to work much earlier than Brits on average, so are much more likely to be travelling/at a conference/doing whatever for work at a point where they still need to pump multiple times per day.

Hey @Semster, you seem very snotty. Or did I get that wrong too?

You seem a bit quick to jump to judgemental assumptions based on no facts at all.

The thing that is impressing me is that the pod says 22% of American mothers are EBF at 6 months. That's 10x higher than the UK.

I happily feed my daughter anywhere but I'd love to use that. It actually would be convenient.

The thing that is impressing me is that the pod says 22% of American mothers are EBF at 6 months. That's 10x higher than the UK.

TBF it's not hard to have better breastfeeding rates than the UK...

You seem a bit quick to jump to judgemental assumptions based on no facts at all.

^^ This

If a "lactation suite" allows a working mother to pump in privacy, or a breastfeeding family room (like the one at LHR) allows a mother who prefers privacy to nurse in private its a good thing.

FFS must EVERYTHING be turned into a war? Don't provide a place for mothers to nurse/pump, and establishments are in the wrong; provide a place for mothers to nurse/pump and establishments are trying to lock mothers away.

Can't do right for wrong!

I would have used it. Despite being aware and able to BF publicly, I'd still sooner have had the choice of privacy,

OP that IS the case in America too. But not just working Mums pump and oddly enough still need to pump at the airport in transit when not at work

As long as people aren't forced to use it, I think it's a great idea.

In the US, women are only entitled by law to 12 weeks (unpaid) mat leave. That's a lot of women returning to work, including business trips, with a 3 month old at home who might want to express.

There will also be women who don't want to bf in public, and I think it's right that they have the choice to go somewhere private.

In the US there isn't the same culture of insisting babies need solids at three months old and the mass panic if they get to 6 months plus one day having not tried any real food. It's common over there to start at around 6 months, which can be anything up to 8 months.

The UK's EBF rates at 6 months are entirely consistent with our guidelines to start solids by 6 months. (94% of parents have introduced solids by 6 months with only 5% waiting longer - there must be a rounding error there.) Our "any BF" rates at 6 months are more like 34%. It's also possible that the US figures are counted differently.

As a breastfeeding mother who had to travel for work without my baby with me, I would have loved to have had facilities like this on offer. The number of times I had no choice but to pump in an airport loo because it was the only place I could lock a door and get some degree of privacy.

I also had the joy of having all my pumping kit pulled out of my hand luggage by overzealous security personnel who couldn't/wouldn't comprehend what it was for having seen it on the scanner. The only way I could get the French one to understand was to mime it by holding the pump over my breasts. Up until then, I thought he was trying to humiliate me, but the colour he went and speed with which he waved me on when realisation dawned suggested he was the embarrassed one.

That's interesting, the majority of UK parents have already weaned by 6 months then.

I think that the pumping rooms are a good idea, whilst happy to BF anywhere I wouldn't like to express, particularly as I hand express which is not dignified in the slightest!

YABU. I live in the US and I returned to work 12 weeks PP. I pumped and my employer provided me a place to do so with a locking door that was not a restroom. I also travel occasionally for work. I would be unable to travel for work with my baby unless I brought childcare with me. These booths are great for those of us who want to maintain a supply while away from our babies. Be a little more open minded. I've also breastfed my baby in airports and didn't use these booths even though I hate breastfeeding in public. I just found a nice quiet corner to feed in. If it was too busy however, it would have be a great place to feed my baby who was easily distracted.

According to this exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months in the US are 4.3%. So I've no idea where that 22% comes from. It does seem like their any breastfeeding rate is more like 50% though which is quite impressive.

www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/ifps/data/ifps2_tables_ch3.pdf

Some people are surprised to know that I am really modest (erring on prudish) about my own body, so I would have welcomed having a pod to use for privacy to breastfeed when my daughter was young. I wouldn't like if women had to use them though, as, although I'm shy myself, I think women should be free to breastfeed in public. I never pumped, I couldn't manage to do it!

I pumped (prem baby who wouldn't latch) and went back to work at 6 months. I would have welcomed this. When I was travelling I was usually stuck using my manual pump in a toilet (nowhere to plug in the electric one and I wasn't comfortable pumping in public).