5 Ways to Support Off-Site Breastfeeding and Pumping Staff

If you want to build a truly resilient business and support breastfeeding employees, your lactation support should go beyond the office, helping more than just on-site workers. By supporting your employees who are pumping breast milk on a business trip, at a conference, or working remotely far from home, you are giving them the tools to focus on work while continuing to provide milk for their baby.

The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act), which went into effect in 2023, requires employers to support lactating employees, such as providing break time and space for nursing mothers, including those working in nontraditional work environments. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the Business Case for Breastfeeding, a comprehensive toolkit designed to educate employers about the value of supporting breastfeeding employees in the workplace. With remote and mobile work more common now, employees working off-site should be able to use lactation benefits and feel supported. Companies that don’t support pumping parents can see reduced retention and productivity, as employees struggle to manage both work and feeding schedules. This can also lead to potential negative health impacts for the mother and baby.

5 tips to help lactating employees outside the office

Here are some easy and practical solutions to help lactating employees working remotely or in the field.

1. Privacy and finding space

When breastfeeding employees work in the field, they often lack access to clean, private, or temperature-controlled spaces for pumping. Some employers plan their employees’ days around access to field offices or customer sites with a suitable pumping space. If your lactating employee is travelling to another company, ensure that the site is equipped with a lactation room or a private office they can use. Another option is to rent a hotel room for the day, so parents have somewhere clean, safe, and private to pump and store their milk. Keep these requirements in mind: a space shielded from view, a locking door, access to an outlet, and free from intrusion.

2. Wearable breast pumps

Providing access to discreet, mobile equipment such as portable and wearable pumps makes pumping on the go more manageable. These pumps fit discretely inside a bra, allowing moms to pump while on a virtual meeting, driving, or typing. They are battery-powered and cordless, and can be used anywhere.

3. Pumping breaks

Ensure parents have the time to pump throughout their workday. They may need to take multiple pumping breaks ranging from 20 to 45 minutes each. The laws allow parents to take as many pumping breaks as needed, without limiting the break’s length. Break time can be affected by set up time, pumping, storing the milk, cleaning the attachment kit, and dressing to return to work. The best way to accommodate this is to build flexibility into their day. Be mindful of when meetings are booked, and make sure pumping space is readily available.

4. Milk storage

Businesses are required to provide a place for parents to safely store and cool their breast milk. You can provide an insulted cooler bag with ice packs, a portable fridge, or a high-quality thermos if it safely keeps milk cold. A refrigerator is the best option if one is available. If your employee is staying in a hotel without a room refrigerator, the hotel may be able to bring a minifridge to their room to store breast milk, as an accommodation.

5. Milk shipping

A breast milk shipping program for parents to send their breast milk home during overnight trips makes a big difference to employees. Time and effort go into pumping; having to pump and dump during a trip is devastating for many parents. By providing resources for parents to ship their milk home, they can maintain their milk supply and ensure their baby has milk while they are away.

Lactation support at the office is not enough

These accommodations create an environment where lactating parents can have a discreet, comfortable space for pumping while away from the office, and still store expressed milk safely.

At Healthy Horizons, we have seen businesses succeed with small measures like travel lactation kits and milk shipping programs, showing that big impact doesn’t require a big budget. Make sure that employees know this support exists before they travel, by adding the resources into your written lactation policy and training managers to communicate these options proactively.

If your lactation support only works at headquarters, it’s not enough. Take benefits mobile. Your business will not only have reduced turnover among working parents, but improved morale. By supporting moms in providing breast milk to their babies, you can potentially reduce healthcare expenses and gain a competitive advantage in hiring. When you extend your support by signaling a culture that truly empowers families in all work contexts, you also extend their loyalty.

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