Creating a Breastfeeding-Friendly University Community

Breastfeeding provides multiple health benefits to mothers and babies and is the optimal way to nourish an infant. A wealth of information exists from researchers, professional organizations, and government entities which support and encourage a woman to breastfeed. However, work and school environments are often barriers to success. Women who return to employment or school after childbirth may struggle to continue to breastfeed due to obstacles in their environment. Evidence-based literature supports interventions which empower breastfeeding employees and students to continue to provide breast milk for their infants, despite their return to work or school. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement initiatives to support lactation at Resurrection University (ResU), an upper-division educational institution in Chicago, Illinois. Project interventions included creating a lactation support policy for the university, providing education to students and employees about breastfeeding, crafting marketing materials about ResU’s breastfeeding-friendly community, and developing information for new student orientation. A comfortable and well-appointed lactation space was created for student and employee mothers. A breastfeeding web page was developed. Campus events and social media messages continue to keep the topic of breastfeeding support at the forefront of the university community.

This project helps to promote a culture of breastfeeding within the institution, and positively impacts students and employees. Implications for practice speak to the power of simple interventions to increase knowledge and raise awareness of breastfeeding’s vital impact on the health and wellness of a university community. In addition, implications for global health and environmental health are included in the messaging to the community. The activities within the lactation support program help to create and sustain a healthy workplace in clinical and academic settings. Programs like this are not difficult to replicate within other institutions. It is in the sharing of information and best practices that we encourage other institutions to consider similar programs.