For Immediate Release
Contact: Becky Brooks (618) 244-7134 ext. 220
Email: bbrooks@jchdil.org
The
Jefferson County Health Department is pleased to announce a new workplace
policy for their employees who are exclusively breastfeeding to bring their
infant to work with them in the newborn phase (up to 4 months of age). The health department and their programs
support healthy initiatives including exclusive breastfeeding. This new policy aligns with our mission to
protect health, prevent illness and promote wellness.
The
timing couldn’t be more perfect since World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated
August 1st-7th each year and this year’s theme is Breastfeeding and Work, Let’s
Make it Work! Its’ aim is to support and
empower all women working in both the formal and informal sectors to adequately
combine work with child-rearing, particularly breastfeeding.
In
2001, Illinois passed the “Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act”. This law was passed to support breastfeeding
mothers in the workplace. It requires an
employer to provide reasonable unpaid break time each day to an employee who
needs to express breast milk for her infant child. Employers benefit when providing these
services, i.e. greater employee satisfaction, improved productivity, lower
turnover and reduced training costs, decreased absenteeism and increased
company loyalty.
Director
of Nursing, Becky Brooks states, “I applaud the Jefferson County Board of
Health for being one of the first to approve an exclusively breastfed infant in
the workplace policy. This means the
world to a small agency that we can keep our valued employees while supporting
the mother/infant bond through exclusive breastfeeding”.
For
more information please call the health department at 618-244-7134 or visit www.idph.state.il.us/wechoosehealth/WorksiteWellnessPlan.pdf
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