From the President Laurie Beck, RN, MSN, IBCLC, RLC

Fall has arrived and USLCA is as busy as ever! I had the pleasure of attending the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office on Women’s Health (OWH) “The Business Case for Breastfeeding Summit: Implementing the Worksite Lactation Accommodation Law” on September 15, 2011 in Washington, D. C. The summit brought together targeted national business organizations and labor unions to help increase their awareness of the “break time for nursing mothers” provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The purpose of the event was to provide evidence-based resources and tools to assist the various organizations in implementing the law. IBCLCs are a valuable resource to business organizations setting up corporate lactation programs. As you may be aware, the lactation accommodation provisions, which became law on March 23, 2010, require businesses to provide reasonable time and a private space, other than a bathroom, for employees to express milk at work. According to the 2010 Employee Benefits Survey published by the Society for Human Resource Management, 28% of businesses are currently providing lactation rooms and less than 50% provide flexible break options for breastfeeding women. The summit was a success and provided great networking opportunities for USLCA!

Sincerely

Laurie Beck, RN, MSN, IBCLC, RLC
USLCA President