New Airport Law Brings New Freedoms to Moms

We all know, as moms, that there is nothing worse than getting scooted off into a tiny, uncomfortable, bathroom stall at the airport to pump or breastfeed. One mom, a superhero mom, for that matter decided she was going to make things a little bit easier for all the moms.

Tammy Duckworth is a senator in Illinois, she was the first Asian American to be elected. She is a veteran who served in Iraq, who suffered major wounds causing her to not only be the first female double amputee from the war but also the first double amputee to be elected into congress. Lastly, she is the first congresswomen to give birth in the office — seriously, a super mom.

Duckworth explained in Cosmopolitan that breastfeeding/pumping at the airport was a very stressful experience and once she noticed the reoccurring issue she began to do some research realizing that only 8% of airports claim to have a designated space for moms to breastfeed. She knew this had to change.

In 2015, she proposed the Friendly Airports for Mothers act (FAM) ensuing that it is a law for airports to have a clean, private place for moms to either breastfeed or pump. The law will also enforce have a changing table in both the women and mens bathroom — a win for the dads too!

This past month the law was passed and Duckworth shared her excitement with her followers on twitter, “I’m so proud my bipartisan FAM Act was signed into law. This long-awaited law will help improve children’s health and help hard working mothers across our country find clean and accessible spaces to express breast milk when traveling.”

Now, there should be a space that includes a place to sit, a table, and an electrical outlet, it is also expected that the door will have to option of locking for complete privacy. This is a guaranteed sigh of relief for all the breastfeeding moms out there — here’s to one less stress at the airport!