Of Pumping and Paid Leave

My sweet father-in-law, who lives in Iowa, emailed me this article from the Des Moines Register. It's the first I had heard of the breastfeeding language in the Health Care Reform Bill:

‘‘An employer shall provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk; and a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."

Surely a start. And great that the pumping conversation is happening across America, although Iowa is increasingly (and surprisingly and impressively) progressive, having recently legalized gay marriage.

But what about the paid family leave, people? MOST developed and developing countries provide paid family leave. And by most I mean all but Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and -- you guessed it -- the United States. Not even federal employees received paid maternity leave! Yes there is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides for 12 weeks of leave unpaid. But who can afford to use that for anything than the most serious of emergencies? I know that when I had my son, my husband didn't use a day of it for paternity leave, but instead used all of his paid vacation and sick time. We just couldn't afford the loss of income, especially since, as a freelancer, I didn't get paid maternity leave myself.

There is a whole host of reasons to support universal, paid maternity leave. There is no arguing that it's good for families and it's good for breastfeeding. And working mothers who are given paid maternity leave are more loyal employees, and more likely to return to work. Since it costs an employer an average of 75% of an employee's wage to fill a vacated position, it's clear that it's good for business, too. Several states like California and New Jersey have already figured this out. But there is no good reason why it's not on the national agenda.

For more info on paid family leave, read this Forbes article from last year or visit the National Partnership for Women and Families website.

Oh, back to the original point. Read this thought-provoking article by Jill Lepore on pumping, in the New Yorker last year.