Category: Breastfeeding and lactation in the workplace

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Summer Travel, Breastfeeding, and the PUMP Act: What Nursing Parents Need to Know

Summer is a season of family vacations, road trips, beach days, and travel adventures. For breastfeeding parents returning to work after the birth of a baby, summer can also bring unique challenges as they balance maintaining their milk supply while navigating airports, hotels, conference centers, and temporary work assignments.

Fortunately, recent federal protections have made it easier for many breastfeeding employees to continue providing human milk for their babies. The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act expanded workplace protections for lactating employees and has important implications for working parents who travel during the summer months.

What Is the PUMP Act?

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, commonly known as the PUMP Act, was signed into law in December 2022. The law expanded existing federal protections for breastfeeding employees by requiring most employers to provide:

  • Reasonable break time to express milk during the workday
  • A private space that is shielded from view and free from intrusion
  • Protection for millions of workers who were previously excluded from federal lactation accommodation laws
  • The ability for employees to seek legal remedies if employers fail to comply

Before the PUMP Act, many salaried workers had protections under the Affordable Care Act, but millions of employees—including teachers, nurses, agricultural workers, transportation workers, and many others—were not fully covered. The PUMP Act significantly broadened coverage, helping more families meet their breastfeeding goals.

Why Summer Travel Can Be Challenging

Maintaining lactation while traveling presents logistical hurdles even for experienced breastfeeding parents. Common concerns include:

Changes in Routine

Breastfeeding and milk production often thrive on consistency. Travel may disrupt normal feeding schedules, pumping sessions, sleep patterns, and meal times.

Long Flights and Layovers

Air travel can mean extended periods away from a comfortable pumping space. Delayed flights, crowded terminals, and unpredictable schedules may make it difficult to pump as frequently as needed.

Conferences and Business Travel

Many parents travel for work during the summer months. Conferences, training sessions, and off-site meetings can create challenges when finding appropriate times and locations for milk expression.

Hydration and Heat

Summer temperatures can increase fluid needs and contribute to fatigue. While hydration does not directly increase milk production beyond normal physiological needs, adequate fluid intake helps support overall maternal health and comfort.

How the PUMP Act Helps Traveling Employees

One of the most important aspects of the PUMP Act is that workplace lactation protections do not disappear simply because an employee is traveling for work.

If an employee is attending a conference, working at a temporary site, or participating in employer-sponsored travel, the employer generally remains responsible for providing reasonable break time and an appropriate pumping space.

This means that employers should make reasonable efforts to ensure nursing employees have access to:

  • Private lactation spaces at conference venues
  • Appropriate break schedules
  • Time to express milk during long meetings
  • Accommodations during work-related travel

Many conference centers, airports, and convention facilities now offer dedicated lactation rooms, reflecting growing recognition of breastfeeding families’ needs.

Here is a link to an article that can help mothers find these pumping pods at airports.

Air Travel and Breast Milk

Parents often worry about flying with expressed milk. The good news is that breast milk, infant formula, and feeding supplies receive special consideration through airport security procedures.

When traveling:

  • Inform security officers that you are carrying breast milk.
  • Breast milk may be transported in quantities greater than standard liquid limits.
  • Ice packs, freezer packs, and gel packs used to cool milk are generally permitted.
  • Review current transportation guidelines before travel, as procedures can change.

Many airports now provide lactation pods or nursing suites that offer private spaces for pumping or breastfeeding.

Tips for Protecting Your Milk Supply While Traveling

Plan Ahead

Before traveling, identify:

  • Airport lactation rooms
  • Hotel refrigeration options
  • Conference lactation facilities
  • Nearby locations where pumping can occur if needed

Maintain Your Pumping Schedule

Milk production operates on supply and demand. Attempting to maintain a schedule similar to your normal routine can help prevent discomfort and protect milk production.

Pack Extra Supplies

Consider bringing:

  • Extra pump parts
  • Additional milk storage bags
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Portable battery packs
  • Backup manual pumps

Unexpected travel delays are common during summer vacation season.

Learn to Hand Express (if you don’t already know)

This is another great reason to be sure you know how to hand express your milk. You can find information on hand expressing here.

Hand expression has no parts to pack and can be an easier way to maintain your expression schedule while traveling.

Know Your Rights

Employees should familiarize themselves with workplace lactation protections before traveling. Having a conversation with supervisors or human resources departments ahead of time can prevent misunderstandings and ensure appropriate accommodations are available.

Breastfeeding-Friendly Travel Benefits Everyone

Supporting breastfeeding employees is not simply a legal obligation—it is also good for families and workplaces. Research consistently demonstrates that breastfeeding is associated with improved maternal and infant health outcomes. When employees receive adequate lactation support, they often experience greater job satisfaction and are more likely to remain in the workforce.

The PUMP Act represents an important step toward recognizing that breastfeeding and employment can coexist successfully. As more workplaces, airports, hotels, and conference centers adopt lactation-friendly practices, traveling while breastfeeding becomes increasingly manageable.

Looking Ahead

Summer travel should be an opportunity for connection, professional growth, and family memories—not a source of anxiety about maintaining milk production. The protections established by the PUMP Act help ensure that nursing parents do not have to choose between their careers and their breastfeeding goals.

Whether you’re heading to a family reunion, attending a professional conference, or embarking on a summer vacation, preparation, knowledge of your rights, and access to supportive accommodations can help make the journey smoother.

Breastfeeding parents deserve the time, space, and support necessary to continue providing human milk for their babies and to continue their journies along the Milky Way—at home, at work, and wherever summer adventures may lead.

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Lactation Support in the Workplace: New and Improved Protections Guest Post by Donna Walls

Universal pumping icon by Fiona Jardine

When the PUMP Act was signed into law in late 2022, after I did my happy dance, I made sure to share the wonderful news with several of my friends. One of my pals shared my enthusiasm and then urged that advocates make sure that moms actually know about their rights. Years ago, when she worked in a daycare, she noticed that  so many of the moms she interacted with didn’t realize that they had any lactation rights (which were less than, but still existent). That’s what guest blogger Donna Walls’s mission is this week, to amplify the progress we’re making around lactation support in the workplace. Please enjoy and pass along her piece: Lactation Support in the Workplace: New and Improved Protections. 

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There have been great victories for lactation advocates and families but, unfortunately, we are not hearing much about them outside of the “inner circle”. It’s time we start talking about these important legislative victories!

Source: United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)

I am privileged to be a part of the United States Breastfeeding Committee’s (USBC) Workplace Support Constellation. The Workplace Support Constellation works to address the barriers to breastfeeding for lactating workers, with a specific focus on reducing disparities and inequities. The Constellation works together to advance the following priority strategies:

  • Increase understanding of employer responsibilities and employee rights under federal and state law through an education campaign emphasizing existing implementation resources.
  • Identify gaps in the current laws and work to expand protections for all employees. [Retrieved from: https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/ws-constellation.html] 

We work to support mothers returning to work or school in any way needed; practically, legally and educationally. While there is always work to be done, I am happy to report that much progress has been made. 

First, let’s impart a little history of lactation support in the workplace. In 2010, the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division amended Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide breastfeeding mothers with reasonable break time and a place (other than a bathroom) to express breast milk. This amendment became effective on March 23, 2010, when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law.

Over a decade later, the PUMP (Providing Urgent Maternal Protections) Act for Nursing Mothers was passed providing expanded protections, including legal recourse for those who have been denied these rights by their employer. 

Watch the PUMP Act Briefing here. 

Though the updated legislation filled many gaps, unfortunately, certain employees of airlines, railroads, and motorcoach carriers are exempt from nursing employee protections under the FLSA. However, employees who are not covered,  may be entitled to break and/or space protections under State or local laws.

More good news came in the summer of 2023 when the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act  (PWFA), through The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, went into effect.

According to the government website, “Generally, PWFA  requires an employer to provide a ‘reasonable accommodation’ to a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an ‘undue hardship’.  Reasonable accommodations may include extra breaks, flexible scheduling, being able to sit down or drink water, uniform changes, taking time off work or limiting exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Photo by João Paulo de Souza Oliveira: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-scale-photo-of-a-pregnant-woman-3737150/

The PWFA applies to all businesses private and public sector, including state and local governments federal agencies with more than 15 employees. 

Protections also include accommodations related to infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, and abortion, childbirth and recovery, postpartum depression and lactation and conditions like mastitis, low milk supply and plugged ducts.  

Employers must:

  • make a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of an employee
  • not deny a job or employment opportunities to a qualified employee based on the person’s need for a reasonable accommodation
  • not require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided that would let the employee keep working
  • not punish or retaliate against an employee or applicant for requesting or using a reasonable accommodation
  • not coerce individuals who are exercising their rights or helping others exercise their rights under PWFA

Check out https://pregnantatwork.org/ for more detailed information. 

If employees are being denied these accommodations, they can file their complaints through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Click here for more. A Better Balance also offers a  free and confidential legal helpline to help individuals understand their  rights in the workplace. The helpline number is 1-833-NEED-ABB (1-833-633-3222) or there is an online form available. 

You can also check  out https://pregnantatwork.org/ for more detailed information. 

One of the most recent victories are the new protections finalized under Title IX. 

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and pregnancy-related conditions and parental status. This includes sexual orientation of the parent, biological or adoptive parents, foster or stepparent, legal guardian or custodial parent, actively seeking legal guardianship, custody or visitation, adoption of a child under 18 years of age or a disabled person over 18 who is not capable of self-care.

Protections have expanded to include students, trainees and employees of schools K-12,

college, university, vocational school, other academic institution or government-funded training

programs. Exemptions may be granted to religious institutions if not discriminating violates their religious beliefs. More information on exemptions can be found here. 

For clarification and help with implementing these protections, the Workplace Lactation Accommodations: Employer Toolkit will be published soon through the USBC Workplace Support Constellation.

Example of a lactation space. Read more about this one here: https://www.ourmilkyway.org/colorado-pediatric-office-becomes-breastfeeding-friendly-employer/

Until then, here is a brief summation of the protections:

  • What is a “lactation space”?  These may look very different, but all spaces must be a clean, non-bathroom space free from viewing, preferably with a lock or security measure. The space may be multi-use with the provision that the mother expressing her milk is prioritized. Each designated lactation space will contain, at minimum, a chair, table or other flat surface for holding a pump, and electrical outlets (not required but strongly recommended). A sink or access to water for hand and equipment cleaning is also strongly recommended. A general guideline for establishing the number of lactation spaces needed is about six spaces per 1,000 female employees. Examples may be an exam room, conference room, office or clean, uncluttered storage room or closet.       

 

  • What is a “lactation break”? Time will be provided for employees to express milk as often as needed (as determined by the employee) during the workday and will

Include time to set up, express milk and clean up. Employees are expected to inform their supervisor of the expected schedule as soon as possible, and it is the responsibility of the supervisor to obtain any required coverage. Employees’ needs may change over time and they may request changes in this schedule as needed. Salaried employees will not find changes in their pay as a result of pumping breaks, but hourly employees’ lactation breaks will be unpaid except when they choose to work while pumping; are pumping during a break that is normally paid; are using paid time off. A general guideline is that the employee may need about 20 to 30 minutes, every two to three hours but this may vary depending on the child’s age and individual needs.

 

  • What about milk storage? The law requires a place to store milk safely but does not

Make any specific considerations. Human milk is not considered a safety concern and can be stored in any employer provided refrigerator or cold storage. All milk should bel labeled with the employee’s name and date expressed. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides milk storage guidelines here. 

Much work has been done, and we are now presented with the opportunity for all lactation advocates to help spread the word. Provide this information in your breastfeeding classes, share on all of your social media sites and talk with pregnant women whenever possible, including local childbirth education classes and postpartum support groups.

Check with the Human Resources Department in your workplace to make sure they are aware and can implement the needed protections. Find parallel advocacy fields– Adolescent Nutrition, Climate Change, Digital Health, Early Marriage/Pregnancies, Emergency Settings/Humanitarian Crises, Economics, Newborn and Child Health, Pediatrics, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Social and Behavioral Change, Women’s Health–  lactation and breastfeeding are almost always relevant somehow! Let’s celebrate these major strides. 

 

Other relevant resources

Pregnant Scholar toolkit on student legal protections

USBC list of local partners 

Sample outreach letter from lactation support orgs to local schools/colleges: https://thepregnantscholar.org/wp-content/uploads/Lactation-Support-Org-Letter.docx 

WorkLife Law’s Free Legal Helpline for pregnant, postpartum and lactating students and workers: (415)703-8276 and hotline@worklifelaw.org

HHS Employer guide to supporting nursing parents at work

Breastfeed LA accommodation ideas in different spaces, guides for employees/students and employers 

University of Northern Colorado Campus Lactation Toolkit (note, contains outdated legal information) 

Title IX BreastfeedLA website with reports on lactation and education

Lactation accommodation while incarcerated 



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Balancing family health and economic well-being in Kenya

Josephine (Josie) W. Munene is the Director of Community Engagement at Maziwa Breastfeeding, an organization that helps mothers balance their babies’ health and their families’ economic well-being in Kenya. Munene leads the lactation education training programs and the Community Breastfeeding Ambassador peer support initiatives.

Munene completed her graduate work in the UK with a focus on international development, and while she imagined she would spend her life working globally, and after spending some time working in the corporate world, she determined a need for helping moms in her home country. 

After her first son (now 14 years old) was born, she struggled to find breastfeeding support. Munene noticed that many of the resources and programs were established in the Global North and lacking for women in her community. So Munene switched gears and launched a business that sold breastfeeding supplies like breast pumps and nursing bras and nursing pads different from the “lumps” handed out by the hospital. She was looking to infuse dignity in the experience, she explains.  But Munene quickly realized that it wasn’t enough to sell products to women, so she pursued the Infant and Young Child Feeding Counselor Training in order to meld her lived experience with technical knowledge and offer evidence-based care to breastfeeding dyads.   

Kenya ranks quite well in the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) coming in at number 10 worldwide. Still, Munene shares that in Kenya, lactation professionals are not widely accepted as competent nor essential care providers. Instead, they are often considered “quacks” or the profession is regarded as a “hobby”. Munene has therefore made it a priority to engage in policy change with a goal to establish a national accreditation curriculum in her country that will recognize lactation care as an essential part of the continuum of care. Munene sees engagement of social enterprises in public private partnerships as an important piece to this work; reliance on governments alone or donor partners alone has proven to be ineffective, she comments. Further, Munene emphasizes the importance of engaging the people who the policies are intended to benefit. 

She sees an opportunity to adapt well-established accreditation programs in the Global North to Sub-Saharan countries’ needs. Growing the membership of the Kenya Association of Breastfeeding would signal to the Kenyan government the need for a local accreditation, she proposes. 

Recently, Munene and her colleagues helped facilitate a  Kenya Association for Breastfeeding workshop during the Amref International University (AMIU) Public Health Care Congress. A range of participants including gynecologists, pediatricians, students were invited to learn about the fundamental principles of lactation and breastfeeding. They then participated in reflecting on case studies using Healthy Children Project’s (HCP) 8-Level Problem Solving Process by Karin Cadwell and Cindy Turner-Maffei as a framework. 

Munune reports that the most interesting finding from the interactions was the participants’ identification of the need for breastfeeding support early on to alleviate or to eliminate challenges. 

Another takeaway illuminated  the specialized care that breastfeeding can require. Munene explains that in Kenya, breastfeeding generally falls under the nutrition category which overgeneralizes the “benefits” of breastfeeding and ignores the need for practical support that is tailored and effective. 

Munene mentions that Kenya employs Community Health Promoters which are important players in preventive health care, but the program does not address the need for more targeted support for breastfeeding dyads. 

Overall, Munene sees a need for a more comprehensive approach to lactation and breastfeeding care in her country. She calls for policies that go beyond “paperwork and guidelines”. 

For instance, Kenya has established lactation laws for working mothers, but she finds implementation and enforcement is lacking. [Check out this qualitative study for interesting  perspectives from women, families and employers in Kenya.] 

In Breastfeeding challenges for working mothers and their families in different workplace settings, around 18 minutes into the webinar, Munene presents on maintaining exclusive breastfeeding for working mothers.

Munene also reflects on maternity cash benefits for those working in the informal sector. These interventions can only be effective if they come with proper education, she reports. Cash benefits have the potential to influence personal nutritional wellness, and if individuals use the money to purchase indigenous foods from their neighbors, they have the added potential to boost income for the community as a whole. 

You can learn more about these endeavors and connect with Munune here. 

You might also be interested in learning about The Cost of Not Breastfeeding in Kenya. Check it out here.

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