Now this is a bizarre ruling if I ever heard, and a law which seems to be poorly thought out. Enter HB 613, which the governor of New Mexico just signed into law. Now this should be near and dear to the heart of all OB nurses who have struggled to help moms with breast feeding, as well as NICU nurses who have helped moms get started pumping milk for their premies who are not yet able to eat.

This new law requires that all employers, both public and private, are required to provide an additional, clean, private space in the workplace, besides the bathroom, for nursing mothers to use a breast pump to collect natural milk for their infants. Yes, you heard me correctly. This was the brainchild of Rep. Danice Picraux, D-Albuquerque and breastfeeding advocates, and I am absolutely shocked that this passed. In theory, it sounds very nice and humane, and certainly, would be lovely for all nursing moms who return to work to have a nice cozy little corner to pump their milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breast fed for about the first six months of life and many moms can’t remain out of work for that length of time. So the alternative is to express milk and store it, and have the babysitter feed the breast milk via bottle (although some purist fanatics even oppose that) in the mother’s absence.

But from an employer’s perspective, this bill could be a disaster. I haven’t seen the entire bill, but from what I’ve read, it does not appear to make any exceptions. Like for a five person office with one room, a bathroom and a storeroom. Uh, where is mom supposed to pump her breasts? Or is the employer supposed to rent her a room across the street, so she won’t have to be humiliated by pumping her breasts in the bathroom?

Basically, it is lovely in theory, but not very realistic except for a larger company, or one that has extra space, or if the mom in question already has a private office. How is a small business with very limited space supposed to provide a clean and private place if none exists? Should someone give up an office? Should employees be kicked out of their lunchroom? And what if even these options don’t exist? I have been inside some very crowded offices, where either the space is limited, there are more employees than the office space can comfortably hold, or both. So where is the nursing mom supposed to be set up?

In reality, and I know that the advocates of this law don’t want to hear this, the mom may have a choice of using the bathroom or having a chair set up in a storeroom and put a sign out front when she is using it. Not attractive? Well, I’d love to hear other suggestions and I’m sure that employers would as well.

I am also concerned that putting in a blanket mandate like this may actually increase discrimination against hiring of pregnant women or increase firing of them, making it difficult for them to return to work, etc. And yes, it is against the law to discriminate, but it is also very difficult to prove that you didn’t get a job because you’re pregnant, especially if a number of other equally/better qualified people also applied for it. Ditto for getting fired, especially if you are non-unionized and work in a state where you can be fired at will. And that may well be the scenario if no exceptions are given to this law and employers simply can’t reasonably comply with it.

Anyway, this is how the law basically reads:

In order to foster the ability of a nursing mother who is an employee to use a breast pump in the workplace, an employer, including the state and its political subdivisions, shall provide:

(1) a space for using the breast pump that is:

(a) clean and private;
(b) near the employee’s workspace; and
(c) not a bathroom; and

(2) flexible break times.

B. An employer shall not be liable for:

(1) storage or refrigeration of breast milk;
(2) payment for a nursing mother’s break time in addition to established employee breaks; or
(3) payment of overtime while a nursing mother is using a breast pump.

That is very generous of them not to make the employer responsible for refridgerating the milk, or having to pay pumping overtime. But it still does not solve the dilemma of space.

This also brings up other issues. If employers are going to be forced to accommodate pumping moms, what’s to stop other groups from demanding “their own space” as well. For example, should diabetics have a clean and quiet spot other than a bathroom to check their blood sugar and give insulin? I’m waiting to hear from disability advocates on that one. If you accomodate one specific group, then the door is wide open for everyone else.