T
By Kathleen Cosper
"It's a protected right, so even if some
one wants to pive you a glance, you
know you’re doing the best for you, for
your baby,” said Suzanne Thomas, a pro
fessor in the Communications Depart
ment, on breast feeding in public. “You
shouldn’t be embarrassed. You’re feed
ing your baby, and that’s a good thing,”
Thomas, is among a number of women,
faculty and students alike, who have
to balance the demands of their pro
fessional lives with motherhood. In
evitably, there are times when the two
worlds collide. This is especially true
for mothers who are nursing young in
fants. Thomas, recently gave birth to her
fifth child. Sunny, whom she is nursing.
Fortunately, there is now support for
breast feeding mothers at Fayetteville
State University. The university recently
set up a lactation room for women to
nurse their babies or pump at their con
venience in a private, comfortable space.
"It’s about time,” said Jessica Flafner.FSU
senior and mother of two and expecting.
When told there was now a lactation
room, Tifinei Lee, senior at FSU and moth
er of one said “Oh really? That’s great. I
wish they had that when I was nursing.”
Recently many schools around the nation
have been opening lactation rooms for the
convenience and support of their staff and
students Currently UNO at Chapel Flill has
ht? lactation rooms around (5ampus, many
ofvvhtclic >''Win changing tables pumps
sinks, ano/oi 'efri^erators. Harvard has
20 on campus, which are equipped with
hospital-grade pumps along with storage
options, changing tables, gliders with ot-
U-'rPcali': IP' .1 dOC.l-g 'in 11 fitf'k'V ’Or
those who bring theif own pump or child
The Pationt Protection and Affordable Care
Act signed by President Barack Obama in
March of 2010 includes a section geared
solely toward® mothers and \ -ast 'c,
ing ;nf» biii requites compa 'l' wit'-> c-u
empinyees oi more to follow a mandate
offering'a private room, which is not a
bathroom, for female employees to ex
press mifkforachild up to one year of age;--
While the bill mainly targets businesses/
schools are also required to abide the bill.
I
However, many woman are not familiar
with the provisions of the bill or do not
know that the lactatioriVoom may be availr
able to them. Hafner; the FSU studentr
was not aware of the existence or location
of the lac:tation room. Professor Thomas
said she had heard that the university of
fered a space for nursing mothers, but “I
don’t actually know where it is." she said.
The newly opened lactation room is lo-'
cated on the second floor of the Williams
Flail Room 215 aid is open Monday
through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although
the temporarily designated space does
not include tools for oumoing or
age, it does have a relaxed settir
multiple plugs and a
Research has shown
port is beneficial to the wc
ing mother and her child, accordin
to the North Carolina S ~ ‘
Manual on Lactation Support,
ers also benefit as well by decreasing:
medical expenses, reducing absen--v
teeism, increasing employee
and improving morale in the workp^lii
Although breast feeding is natural, i!
can sometimes be difficult to do in pub
lic. Lactation rooms provide peaceful
space $r^^can put an end to unsolic-
itert^advj^e^' I^nd -disapproving stares.
Fayetteville State has gone to great lengths
to impiove campus facilities aiui includ- .
mg a room for breastfeeding moiht^rs is^
very helpful for women trying lo balance^
professional and family responsibitrties.'*
"I Think that if a woman is corrWort-
able she should *eed her baby
wherever she goes." said Profes
sor Thomas. "Its natural, it’s norn^l,"
Denise Brcwn-Hant,, FSU associate vice
chancellor for Human Resources, has
provided the following steps to follow in
I regards to use of the lactation roofri. She
also added that the lactation room is not
monitored, so it is the responssbility of the
users to ensure they utilize the space cor
rectly.
FSU Staff and Faculty Access
An FSU employee v/ho wishes to make
use of lactation space should;
•Contact the Human Resources Office at
^ext. 1146 to request access
•Upon approval by HR, visit the Bronco
Card Office to obtain 6 month key-card
access
‘Log in to the visitors kiosk at the Custom
er Service Desk of Williams Hall
•The lactation space is located on the 2nd
floor of Williams Hal! in room 215
•Access the room using your Bror>co key-
card
•After use, please clean up all personal
items before exiting the space
•Sign out of the visitors kiosk
Students seeking access to the desig
nated lactation space should contact the
Residence Life Office at 910-672-1884 or
visit the Customer Service Desk located
on the 1st floor of Williams Hall,
Student Access
•Log in to the visitors kiosk at the Custom
er Service Desk of Williams Hail.
•Provide a valid FSU Bronco Identification
Card in exchange for the access key-card
to the lactation room.
•The lactation space is located on the 2nd
floor of Williams Hail in room 215.
•Only one person can be signed in at a
time; therefore a time limit may be appli
cable.
•Additional guest and visitors are not per
mitted,
•After use, please clean up all personal
items before exiting the space,
•Return access key-card to the Customer
Service Desk and retneve your FSU
Bronco identification.
•Sign out of the visitor’s kiosk.