By Juliana McLeod, News Staff
Last week, I was walking down a hallway of my office and passed a female co-worker sitting outside of a bathroom. I knew she was waiting to breast pump in private, as the bathroom was reserved for her and another new mother so they could save up milk for their babies while working.
I said I felt bad that people ignored the bathroom’s reserved times, but my co-worker brushed it off. She was just glad the company had reserved a spot for her, which, up until recently, it was not required to do.
Confused by this, I hurried back to my computer to research the topic.
I learned Congress passed a law requiring workplaces to provide a space and reasonable amount of time for a female worker that is breastfeeding her infant to privately pump until her child turns one year old, according to the United States Breastfeeding Committee.
I did not read much of the law though, because I was stuck on the words, “Effective March 23, 2010.” As excellent as this law is, why the hell is it so recent? I cannot believe that a working mother in 2009 had to sit on a counter or find an empty stairwell to breast pump for her child.
But there is a larger issue at hand: women have been sitting on the toilet of the workforce for years. They have been dealing with circumstances that do not take into account the necessities of working women.
This comes into play with women who take time off work to raise their children. A woman spends nine months carrying a child in her body, then spends more years of her life taking care of this child while, in some cases, leaving the career to the husband. It is completely understandable that parents need to be caretakers and breadwinners, but why can’t the mothers be both?
For the women who want to further their careers while raising a family, the workplace can be a hellhole. One of the pregnant women I work with deals with morning sickness every single day she is at work. I cannot imagine sitting in the bathroom for an hour every morning trying to fight bouts of nausea – but she does it.
Plus, pregnant workers have to keep up with walking all around an office. These women do not have special parking spots and are constantly on the move interacting with colleagues and running to meetings.
How do they do it? It is an absolute mystery to me, but I respect them. So I wish the law would respect them as well.
I am very happy employers are now required to set aside a time and place for working mothers to breast pump. Yet it is shocking to me that this became a law only four years ago.
Now that most of us are aware that the workplace is no longer just for males, it is time to put further action to our words. No more use of the reserved bathroom for a mother that needs to breast pump. No more remarks about how badly the bathroom smells because of morning sickness.
How about appreciation instead? It’s not every day you create a human being while working nine to five.
-Juliana McLeod can be reached at [email protected].