WASHINGTON – The “B” in BWI does not stand for breastfeeding, but Baltimore Washington International Airport is among the most breastfeeding friendly airports in the nation, according to the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Advocates say that at a minimum, lactation rooms should include an electrical outlet so mothers can plug in their breast pumps plus a table and chair, and that the rooms are not also used as a bathroom.
BWI is among 8 percent of U.S. airports meeting that standard, according to a study of 100 U.S. airports published in the medical journal this month.
Other airports meeting the minimum standard are San Francisco International, San Jose International, Indianapolis International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, Dane County Regional (Wisconsin), Akron-Canton Regional (Ohio), and Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional (Florida) airports.
Study authors believe there’s a disconnect between airports’ perceptions and actions when it comes supporting breastfeeding.
Sixty-two percent of U.S. airports consider their services to be “breastfeeding friendly,” according to the survey. But advocates say more work has to be done to raise awareness considering that the survey also finds that only 37 percent of airports offer specific rooms to accommodate breastfeeding and 25 percent consider a unisex/family restroom to be a lactation room.
The full study is published in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
“At BWI we certainly believe that nursing mothers and their children should have options,” says airport spokesman Jonathan Dean.
Dean says the airport’s two nursing stations highlight BWI’s commitment to customer service. “And our easy come, easy go brand,” he says.
D.C. and Maryland are among states that specifically allow women to breastfeed in any public or private location.
Some Virginia laws related to breastfeeding include exempting the feeding practice from public indecency rules and allowing nursing mothers to avoid jury duty.
Federal law requires employers to provide hourly wage employees a private place that isn’t a bathroom so these working mothers can pump breast milk.
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