New Law to Protect Pumping Moms

I once heard about a new mom expressing milk in her office cubicle, pulling a little curtain across a string on the “door,” hanging a sign that explained, and (I imagine) sitting there red-faced as the pump whirred away. I was shocked that having a more private space to pump isn’t guaranteed by law.

Well, in better-late-than-never news, now it is. As part of the new health care legislation, moms are now guaranteed “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public.” For moms with office jobs, taking breaks to express breast milk for a baby at home is usually a doable (if awkward) reality, but what about employees of restaurants, retail stores or other non-office professions? “Reasonable break time” to pump for up to a year is also the law of the land now too.

Did you pump at work? How did you make it work?