In recognition of National Breastfeeding Month during August, local advocates are inviting organizations and businesses to pledge to support and provide breastfeeding-friendly spaces for employees and guests.

An initiative of the Georgia Department of Public Health, the local expansion is supported by the Centers for Disease Control’s Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant, administered by the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah. Local advocates are also working in conjunction with the Chatham County Health Department, Georgia Southern University Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and Glow Lactation.

Tapping into the theme of National Breastfeeding Month, “Together We Do Great Things,” the local organizations are focused on increasing awareness of the disparities that discourage breastfeeding by Black mothers in Chatham County and identifying opportunities to remove those obstacles, especially in the workplace.

Georgia Code An. § 34-1-6 states an employer may provide reasonable unpaid break time each day to an employee who needs to express breast milk for her infant child and may make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location, other than a toilet stall, where the employee can express her milk in privacy.

“We want to encourage local businesses to increase support of their employees by establishing and publicly posting a written breastfeeding and lactation support policy that sets expectations for organizational leadership and staff members. Then, we want them to put that policy into action by creating a suitable space for moms who need to breastfeed or pump,” said Nandi A. Marshall, DrPH, MPH, CHES, CLC.

Marshall is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Center for Public Health Practice and Research Affiliate Faculty, Department of Health Policy and Community Health, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. She is also leading the local effort to encourage Savannah businesses to adopt breastfeeding-friendly policies and environments and make them aware of REACH grant funds to help.

“Supporting nursing moms at work is not only the right thing to do, but it can also help your business or company. Science overwhelmingly shows that breastfed babies are sick less often,” Marshall said. “As a result, moms who feed their babies breast milk are significantly less likely to miss work in their infant’s first year of life. The benefits may also include increased retention rates, improved morale, and lower healthcare and insurance costs. Meanwhile, the cost to employers may be little or nothing to convert an empty office or meeting room into a lactation space.”

Marshall added that another benefit to organizations that complete the pledge, create policies, and provide spaces is that they will be recognized by Healthy Savannah and the Georgia Department of Public Health as a Breastfeeding Friendly Organization.

While there are currently a few public breastfeeding spaces such as at the Oglethorpe Mall and the Pod at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, Marshall and her team are seeking local businesses to tap into the program supported by the REACH grant in order to expand the adoption of a companywide policy and pledge to provide a suitable lactation space for employees. Marshall hopes that, in observance of Breastfeeding Month during August and especially in conjunction with Black Breastfeeding Week during the last week of the month, Chatham County companies will help lead the way in establishing practices that break through the stigmas that deter parents from breastfeeding.

“Breastfed and chestfed babies often have a stronger bond with their parent, fewer stomach and digestive issues and a lower risk for many diseases such as asthma, SIDS and diabetes,” said Shawntay Gadson, MHA, IBCLC.

Gadson is a lactation consultant and owner of Glow Lactation Services. She also works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial and with various programs supported by REACH grant funding. She has first-hand experience in the health value of breastfeeding.

“We want to be a part of the change in shifting the perception that Black women don’t breastfeed because it simply isn’t true,” said Gadson. “But we know there are other hurdles to overcome as well. How do you tell a mom who can’t find baby formula and has no other choice except to return to the workplace after being at home during a two-year pandemic, that she has to pump in a public bathroom? We can do better.”

A 2019 CDC report on Racial Disparities in Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration indicated that Black infants had a significantly lower rate of any breastfeeding at age 3 months (58.0%) than did white infants (72.7%); and that at age 6 months, the rates were 44.7% among Black infants and 62.0% among white infants.

In association with Gadson and other community leaders, and with the support of REACH grant funds, Marshall has also begun work to have Savannah/Chatham County recognized as a “Breastfeeding Friendly Community” and recently facilitated the “Savannah H.O.P.E. Photovoice Project,” a photo book documenting the personal experiences from local Black mothers using a combination of photography and storytelling. The project was developed to help identify social, cultural, and physical barriers that discourage breastfeeding by Black mothers in Chatham County, as well as opportunities to remove those obstacles.

Visit https://healthysavannah.org/healthy-savannah-and-ymca-announce-funding-and-support-for-breastfeeding-friendly-workplaces/?preview_id=12620 for more information about adopting a workplace policy to support breastfeeding employees or to sign the pledge if you have an existing workplace policy. For additional information on lactation resources and breastfeeding support in Chatham County, visit herohelpme.com.