Memorial Health System Receives Gold Award
The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition and its Business Case
for Breastfeeding program has awarded Memorial Health System a gold award
for the support it provides its employees who are breastfeeding. This
award, the top ranking of three sponsored by the Coalition, recognizes
businesses that provide support services to their breastfeeding employees, to
include education as well as the time and space for employees to nurse and/or
pump breast milk at their workplace.
According to Brenda Bandy, director of the Business Case
for Breastfeeding program in Kansas, Memorial Health System received the
award for achieving a high level of support to employees by providing a ‘gold
level’ pumping room, allowing flexible time to pump, and instituting a policy
of breastfeeding support.
Pointing out that many breastfeeding mothers abandon
breastfeeding when they return to work because they lack the support and
appropriate facilities at their place of employment, Bandy said, “We want to
help change that unfortunate situation.” She cited research showing that
adequate support for breastfeeding employees benefits businesses through
savings in health care expenses, reduced turnover rates, lower absenteeism, and
increased employee loyalty. According to Bandy, employers that have
established support services for breastfeeding employees have reported a $3 for
$1 return on investment plus realizing a more productive working
environment.
Brenda Moffitt, Memorial Hospital Chief Nursing Officer,
educates MHS staff regarding the health system’s policy of breastfeeding
support and the availability of a pumping room. She states, “As a health
care provider, we understand the importance of breastfeeding and the many
proven health benefits it provides both mother and baby. As an employer,
we can have several staff members at any given time who have chosen to
breastfeed and our goal is to be as supportive of them in that effort in as
many ways as we can.”
The Business Case for Breastfeeding is a program to
assist employers in developing or enhancing support service for their
breastfeeding employees. The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition is a
non-profit 501(c)3 with the mission of working collaboratively to promote and
protect breastfeeding in order to improve the health of Kansas families.
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