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Breastfeeding bill aims to make it easier for moms to pump at work

SB 142 would require special spaces and workplace policies for nursing mothers.

SACRAMENTO, Calif - Senate Bill 142 is making its way through the State legislature. Also known as the lactation accommodation bill, the measure would enshrine new protections for breastfeeding or pumping mothers in the workplace throughout the state.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez is a co-author of the bill. She says the legislation is personal because she's experienced the need firsthand.

"One of the reasons I'm actually a co-author on this bill is I actually had my first child, I was in law school, so I wasn't working," Gonzalez said. "But the only available place for me to breastfeed or pump was the bathroom. And so there was a couch in the bathroom but the bathroom door would swing open and there's just something gross about that. You're like, I don't want to be feeding my child on the floor of the bathroom. That's how it felt."

SB 142 would require an employer to provide a lactation room or private location that includes certain features like a counter to place supplies, a chair, and an electrical outlet. It would also require companies to come up with and implement a policy with specific guidelines including a statement about employees' rights to request lactation accommodation and an employer's obligation to respond to requests among others.

"We need to start to look at women as equal individuals in the workplace," said Gonzalez. "And this is just something we do. I guarantee you that if men were the ones to breastfeed, we would already have these accommodations."

SB 142 is supported by the California Breastfeeding Coalition (CBC). 

Samantha Slaughter is a Lactation Consultant and WIC Regional Breastfeeding Liaison. She's also a representative for the CBC. She said that while California already has laws that support lactation accommodation, the new legislation is necessary.

"The existing law is great but it's a little bit vague," explained Gonzalez. "This one would just make it really consistent across the board so employers — if they aren't familiar with the needs of a lactating employee, they can look at this bill. They can look at this law and have guidance on what to provide to that employee so that it's not up to that employee to tell their employer what they need and have to justify that."

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