Milk Stork Blog

1/2/19

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding, Workplace Support

Moms on a Mission: Winnie Co-Founder

You, as a working mom, encounter unique challenges each day as you step foot from your home into the world. However, a community of driven moms who have been there and done that are here to impart wisdom gained through their years of experience. In our moms on a mission series, we gather advice from women who started companies, ran marathons, became experts and have developed into better employees due to becoming parents. Sara Mauskopf, CEO and Co-Founder of Winnie…

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11/19/18

Family Health, Current News

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…

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11/17/18

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding

Providing a Place to Pump When Space is Limited

Since you more than likely have new mothers returning to work from maternity leave, chances are you already know you are required to provide them with a space for pumping. According to Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to provide “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.” In a perfect…

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8/6/18

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding

Breastfeeding: To Cover or Not to Cover? Knowing Your Rights and Options

Late last month, you might have seen some surprising headlines: Breastfeeding in Public is FINALLY Legal in All 50 States. You probably thought to yourself, “It’s 2018—wasn’t breastfeeding already legal everywhere?” Or maybe you’re a breastfeeding advocate who has long been aware of the holes in many of our country’s breastfeeding laws. Because while it wasn’t necessarily illegal to breastfeed anywhere prior to these recent law changes, there were still some states that didn’t have laws on the books explicitly…

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7/15/18

Travel Tips, Family Health, Pumping & Feeding

The Hassles of Traveling with Breast Milk (And Why More Companies Should Be Looking Out for Their Employees)

As a country, we tend to ask a lot of new moms returning to the workforce. Unlike the rest of the world, we ask them to take their maternity leave unpaid—so they have to spend their pregnancy calculating how long they can afford to go without a paycheck. Then, we ask them to return to work sooner than any other working mothers in the world and well before their babies are eating solid food. On top of that, they must…

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7/13/18

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding, Workplace Support, Employers

Why It’s Time to Make Your Company’s Breastfeeding Policies Public Knowledge

So here you are, feeling like you’ve got this whole pumping-at-work thing under control. You’ve researched and adhered to the most recent pumping and breastfeeding workplace requirements. You’ve created a breastfeeding policy that lives in that giant binder of policies and procedures on your desk (and your hard drive). You’ve updated the company’s Intranet, so that a digital copy of the policy can be easily obtained by any employee who looks for it. And you may even have signage posted…

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7/12/18

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding, Current News

3 Key California Breastfeeding Laws your HR Department Should Know

California has several important legal protections for nursing mothers returning to work after maternity leave. It’s incredibly important that your HR department is aware of, and willingly compliant in, providing breastfeeding mothers with the benefits they are lawfully entitled to receive. Consider this your CliffsNotes® guide to California employment laws that protect breastfeeding. Each section provides an overview on one of three main laws with direct links to the associated policy. These laws focus on ensuring time and accommodations to…

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7/11/18

Family Health, Pumping & Feeding, Employers

Breast Pumping Schedules in the Workplace

Working in HR means addressing a variety of important issues and maintaining a comfortable and productive environment among employees. Every employee who comes through the door has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, as well as different personalities and personal challenges. For new moms, knowing when and where they will be allowed to pump during their workday is often a top concern. Consider Sarah. A first-time mom returning from maternity leave sitting in front of you asking questions about…

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6/16/18

Family Health, Current News

Happy Father’s Day, Superdad!

This one’s for all the Superdads out there! Today we celebrate you and all you do to support breastfeeding. We see you. And we appreciate you. It made our day when you: Helped make sure that we had a good latch Tackled all of the middle-of-the-night diaper changes Did the dream feed so we could get a little more sleep Brought us a tall glass of water when we were pumping or nursing, because the thirst kicked in Shared a…

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