U.S. Contemplates Mandatory Breastfeeding Rooms in Airports
Erica Berardi May 27, 2015
House Rep. Duckworth of Illinois authored a bill that would require airports to provide lactation rooms.
U.S. Congressperson Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) introduced the Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act (H.R. 2530) on May 21, which calls for all medium and large hub airports to provide accessible lactation rooms for travelers.
The bill, which will go to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, calls for a private location to express breast milk that is free from public view, has a lockable door, includes a place to sit, a table or flat surface and an electrical outlet. The space must be accessible to persons with disabilities and cannot be located in a restroom. Under the bill, airports would have two years to comply and could use Airport Improvement Program funds to meet the new requirement.
“Unlike other public spaces, travelers have little control over the amount of time spent in airports,” said Duckworth in a press release. “It’s not uncommon for moms to be directed to a bathroom to breastfeed their child. We would never ask our fellow travelers to eat their meals in bathrooms stalls, yet we ask new mothers to feed their children while sitting on a toilet seat.”
According to a study published in Breastfeeding Medicine in December 2014, only 8 percent of airports surveyed met the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s minimum requirements for a lactation room. However, 62 percent of airports studied stated they were breastfeeding friendly.
“Airports need to be educated as to the minimum requirements for a lactation room,” said Michael Haight and Joan Ortiz, the study’s authors.
The bill has bipartisan support with 13 cosponsors and is endorsed by the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), an independent nonprofit coalition that works to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
“We know that more than three out of four new moms start out breastfeeding, yet from the very first day they encounter numerous barriers to breastfeeding success,” the USBC said in a statement. “An airport is just one of many environments where women face challenges trying to find a clean, private space to nurse or pump.”
Duckworth is an Iraq War Veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. She was re-elected to represent Illinois’ 8th Congressional District in 2014 and was sworn in for her second term on January 6, 2015.
[Photo: iStock]
What will be the cost? Will the costs be passed along to travellers (likely)? Will there be an additional airport "tax" to pay for these rooms? How many rooms per airport? How many breastfeeding Moms are there per day at these airports? While I am generally opposed to federal government mandates, this one seems OK. How about a fee paid by the mothers to totally/partially absorb the cost (kinda like a short-term rental) which might also limit the number of squatters.
"a private location to express breast milk that is free from public view, has a lockable door, includes a place to sit, a table or flat surface and an electrical outlet." A place to sit, a table, and an electrical outlet? If the bill passes, mothers are definitely going to have to deal with squatters using the room as a personal lounge -- someplace quiet to charge their phone, work on their laptops, etc!