Pumping It Up

By Belinda Luscombe

Only one pipeline company in all of Texas is officially designated as mother friendly. It's the Williams Gas Pipelines, and it earned that distinction by setting up a private room and a work schedule so that mothers could pump. Not oil, not gas, but a far more important source of energy: milk.

More than half the women with babies younger than one are in the work force, according to census figures, and increasing numbers of them want to breast-feed their infants. Numerous scientific studies have suggested that breast milk is vastly superior to formula, not only for the mother's and child's basic health but also possibly for the child's early brain development. Given the evidence and lots of work by public health authorities, breast-feeding rates have climbed more than 16% in the past decade (although they are still lower than in nearly all developed countries).

Normally, this would be way, way too much arcane information for most male managers. But increasingly, companies like Williams, which was awarded its mom-friendly moniker by the Texas Breastfeeding Initiative, are adding up the numbers and giving new support to nursing, working mothers. They should. The women most likely to breast-feed are older than 35 with a college degree--that is, women who are also the most likely to be working. And breast milk, one of the world's best examples of demand-led economics, has to be expressed regularly so that supplies do not dwindle. That means it must be made easier for moms to tap this elixir of productivity.

Not surprisingly, health-care companies have been the early adopters of work-force lactation programs. Cigna's Working Well Moms program is considered a benchmark. It offers moms-to-be consultation with a professional breast-feeding expert, known as a lactation consultant, before and after they give birth. When the new mom returns to the bosom of corporate life, Cigna provides access to a private room with a hospital-grade pump, a carrying case to discreetly transport the pumping paraphernalia and expressed milk, plus bottles and access to a refrigerator.

Cigna, at which nearly 80% of the work force is female, sees the lactation program as good health policy and good business. A UCLA study commissioned by the company showed that it saved about $240,000 a year in health-care expenses for breast-feeding mothers and their children and a further $60,000 through reduced absenteeism. That's not including the incalculable goodwill of happy new parents. "They couldn't have made it any easier," says project manager Maria Couchon about pumping milk at work for her four-month-old daughter Ava. "It's a fact of life that I had to come back to work. But being able to do this was a big load off my mind."

Last month Illinois became the fourth state to enact legislation that protects a woman's right to express milk at work, joining Hawaii, Connecticut and Minnesota. An additional 20 or so states have programs that encourage businesses to enable returning mothers to continue breast-feeding, allowing breaks and providing someplace other than a bathroom stall to pump.

In anticipation of a rush to the pump, several companies have already introduced more work-friendly equipment. Medela and Hollister have electric pumps that pack away in executive-looking bags. And a new company, Whisperwear, has devised the Ellen pump, which can be worn under a regular bra for the ultimate in expressing discretion.

Still, it will take a lot more education before breast-feeding at work becomes any kind of profit center. Factory workers have a particularly tough time, since it's complicated to come off the line a few times a day. And plenty of employers find the whole subject just too personal--or icky--to broach. "The large majority of employers are subject to the same misinformation that the rest of society hears--that it's a lifestyle choice, not a health choice," says Elizabeth Baldwin, legal adviser to La Leche League. "They don't want to see it, and they don't want to hear about it." The best advocates for change may well be companies like Williams, which have already listened.