Is Your Business Breastfeeding Friendly?
Written by: Chelsea Sosa, BirthMatters Intern
As part of the Birth Outcomes Initiative (BOI), a collaborative group of community partners, BirthMatters launched a survey in August asking breastfeeding mothers in Spartanburg to let us know where they felt supported while breastfeeding in public.
The survey was shared across social media platforms in English and Spanish, and it asked mothers who had breastfed in the last two years to name breastfeeding-friendly locations in Spartanburg, as well as to define what breastfeeding-friendly meant to them. These four locations were nominated in this round of surveys:
Children’s Museum of the Upstate (Spartanburg)
Spartanburg County Public Libraries
Big Air Trampoline Park (Spartanburg)
Love & Light Family Chiropractic
​Do you know of a breastfeeding-friendly location that wasn’t recognized this month? BirthMatters launches this survey several times a year. Be sure to follow us on social media to catch our next round of surveys (click here for our Facebook Page or our Instagram account).
​Are you wondering what you can do to make sure your business is breastfeeding-friendly? Here are some things that might help ensure an environment supportive of breastfeeding at your location:
​1. Put up signs to let people know that your business is breastfeeding-friendly. If you are nominated on one of our surveys, BirthMatters will also provide you with stickers recognizing you as breastfeeding-friendly. Those can be posted in a place where they are visible to the public.
​2. Consider developing a written policy regarding breastfeeding that protects your staff members and patrons and ensures that they feel supported when breastfeeding at your location or while employed with you.
​3. Train staff members so that they know how they can welcome and support breastfeeding in public spaces. Feel free to reach out to BirthMatters if you have questions about how to do this.
​4. Provide comfortable seating and consider providing an optional private area with clear signage (near but not in a toilet area) that is clean, has access to clean water, and antibacterial wipes or gel.
​Do you have other ideas? Leave us a comment to let us know what breastfeeding-friendly means to you.
Written by: Chelsea Sosa