Should Nursing Mothers Pump or Breastfeed in a Public Restroom?
The answer to the question of whether or not it’s sanitary to breastfeed or to pump breast milk in a public bathroom should be an obvious, resounding, “No!”
If you wouldn’t consider taking your plate and fork from a restaurant table into the restroom with you, and sitting down on the toilet, or leaning against a wet sink to eat your steak or pasta, then it only stands to reason that an infant should not be fed, or had their food handled, in a public bathroom. Yet despite what should be obvious, many breastfeeding moms report being asked to feed or pump in a restroom, either while out in public, or while working. And if you dare to read the public comments on any social media post about public breastfeeding, you will inevitably see many comments suggesting that the nursing mother should just find a restroom in which to feed or pump. Or they suggest that the mother should have been prepared by pumping at home first without ever considering that some babies have never been fed from a bottle and might reject even the best bottles for breastfed babies if they weren’t trained on one in the first few weeks of their life.
While most reasonable people would immediately understand that nursing or pumping in the place where people urinate and defecate is not a safe or sanitary practice, what do the facts tell us?
What Research Studies Have Revealed About Bathroom Bacteria
According to a study of bacterial contamination in high-touch areas in public restrooms in malls, department stores, fast-food restaurants, hospitals, offices, and more, the results showed extensive bacterial contamination on all high-touch surfaces, including sinks, faucets, paper towel dispensers, door handles, and toilet paper dispensers. In fact, these surfaces had many more times the number of bacteria than the surface of the toilet seats themselves. According to the American Society for Microbiology, the bacteria collected included many dangerous pathogens, including E. coli bacteria, streptococcus, and staphylococcus.
Lactation experts tell us that it is possible to nurse safely in a bathroom, if the mom doesn’t touch any surface, but only stands in the restroom and latches her baby without touching anything but her own nursing bra, breasts, and her baby. However, anyone who has ever tried this in a bathroom knows how difficult it is. And when it comes to pumping … well, even the best breast pumps have multiple parts and accessories that need to be placed on surfaces, and all parts require cleaning after use, making it very difficult to imagine accomplishing this without touching a surface in the process.
What are the Laws?
Unfortunately, breastfeeding laws get very little attention outside of mom blogs and social media, but the current laws in all 50 of the United States state that a woman is legally permitted to breastfeed her baby anywhere she is allowed to be. This means that she can’t trespass onto private property to breastfeed, but otherwise she may legally nurse in any location where her child happens to become hungry. In fact, if a person approaches her and asks her to cover up or change her location (such as to a restroom) it is that person who is breaking the law. Breastfeeding moms and their babies are protected by law, and disturbing them is considered harassment.
When it comes to pumping in the workplace, any business with 50 or more employees is required to provide break time and a space for pumping that is NOT a restroom. Businesses with less than 50 employees are required to file an exemption and be able to prove that providing these things to a nursing employee would cause a hardship in order to legally not provide time and space for pumping and storing milk.
It’s important for mothers, employers, and even the general public to know and understand the laws and the rights of breastfeeding mothers. Enforcing these protective laws could go a long way toward improving the numbers of moms who are able to exclusively breastfeed for at least the first six months of their child’s life.
Resources— Romper, ncsl.org, kellymom
About The Author
