The San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition accepts nominations for Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace Awards, and offer site visits to see the lactation accommodations put in place. Most nominations are submitted by Anne Kashiwa of Lactation Supportive Environments.

2015 winners were recognized at their 2015 Liquid Gold Gala for their efforts.

2015 winners were:

Schools: Fallbrook Elementary

Healthcare: Rady’s Children’s Hospital

Small Business: CH2M Hill

Large Business: Northgate Markets

What Makes a Workplace Breastfeeding-Friendly?

The Basics:

• Privacy for milk expression
• Flexible breaks and work options
• Education
• Support
• Written Policy

Breastfeeding is a crucial first step in protecting the health of mothers and infants. Breast milk provides all the nutrients and other factors a newborn needs to grow, develop, and build a strong immune system. Research shows that breastfeeding lowers the baby’s risk of infections, diarrhea, SIDS, obesity, diabetes, asthma, and childhood leukemia. A 2009 study of nearly 140,000 women found that women who breastfed for at least one year were 10-15% less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease compared to mothers who never breastfed. Breastfeeding also lowers the mother’s risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.

Workplace policies have an enormous impact on breastfeeding success since too often, breastfeeding is compromised when a mother returns to work. Workplaces that provide lactation accommodation can save on reduced health claims, lowered employee turnover, decreased absenteeism, and less money spent on recruitment and training of new employees. In addition, employees whose companies provide breastfeeding support report improved morale, better job satisfaction, and higher productivity.