Photograph from Indiana Perinatal Network Web site

A new law that takes effect on July 1 will require employers with more than 25 employees to provide opportunities for new mothers to facilitate breast feeding. The law was sponsored by Bloomington-area legislators Vi Simpson and Peggy Welch.

"Breast pumping - please call again."

It was a simple Post It note stuck on a closed office door, but for many women, the opportunity to post it would be considered a luxury.

When Jennifer Piurek returned to her job at IU Office of Creative Services after having her second child last year, she felt fortunate to have a comfortable environment in which she could breast pump during the time she was away from her daughter Veronica. Once or twice a day, she had a few minutes of privacy so she could pump -- a necessary measure to continue breastfeeding her baby after returning to work.

"Breastfeeding is really important to me, not just because of how good breast milk is for babies, but because of the bonding experience that you have with your baby," Piurek said. "You actually have endorphins released when you're nursing, and waves of tenderness for your baby just wash over you. It's the best feeling in the world."

To continue nursing, working mothers like Piurek need to pump, or express, milk and store it while away from their children. As an IU employee, Piurek felt like she was in a supportive environment to do this.

"I'm one of the lucky ones because I have my own office with a door that closes," she said, adding that she could also store the milk in an office refrigerator right down the hall from her office. "I know people who have cut their nursing short because of their inability to find a place to pump. So I had a really ideal situation."

Soon, Indiana mothers won't need good luck to continue breastfeeding their babies after returning to work. Indiana's new lactation-support-in-the-workplace legislation, authored by State Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, and sponsored in the House by State Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, goes into effect on July 1.

The legislation states that if an employer has 25 or more employees, it must accommodate employees' needs to pump and store breast milk at work.

The Indiana Perinatal Network hosted the second annual Indiana State Summit of Breastfeeding Coalitions on May 8 at the Fort Harrison Conference Center in Indianapolis. The summit included updates on the breastfeeding law and policy and an afternoon session on the "Business Case for Breastfeeding" that detailed simple steps employers can take to support lactating women and the benefits from better employee retention to reduced absenteeism.

Jenny Robinson, a Bloomington resident, mother and advocate of the legislation, attended the "Business Case for Breastfeeding" session.

"It's great timing for Indiana, with this new law, because the bottom line data are so strong," she said. "They may even persuade business owners not covered by the law to adopt a lactation support program."

Piurek understands from her personal experience just how important this new legislation is for working mothers.

"It's hard enough emotionally after you have a baby to just keep it together, because of all the fluctuations in your hormones," she said. "But then going to a job and doing something [pumping] that is actually kind of unpleasant -- I can't imagine what it would be like for women who don't have the place to go where it's private or they can just relax."

Ann Marie Neeley Burkhart, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, said that it's important for women to feel supported at work.

"Women need privacy," she said, noting that they need a spot other than the women's bathroom for this purpose. "You would never make food in a bathroom," she pointed out.

According to the 2008 "The Business Case for Breastfeeding" brochures published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), "employees should never be asked to express milk or breastfeed in a restroom. Breast milk is food, and restrooms are an unsanitary place to provide food."

In addition, it's difficult to manage breast pump equipment in a toilet stall.

"The Business Case for Breastfeeding" details easy steps employers can take to provide a sanitary and private space, from designating a walled-off corner of a lounge adjacent to the women's restroom or adapting a small, unused space. Ideally, the space would have an electrical outlet and small table or shelf (for the pump), a comfortable chair, an inside lock and proximity to a water source.

"It's so worth it for both the mother and the baby's health," said Burkhart. "If someone is committed to breastfeeding there should be no reason why she can't continue."

Breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants, with the right amount of fat, sugar, water and protein crucial to a baby's growth and development, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site for women's health.

And for mothers, being able to take an active role in their children's health and development by breastfeeding is both an empowering and bonding experience, Burkhart said.

The benefits for employers are also significant. Breastfeeding employees and their partners miss work less often, and the reduced health care costs for breastfed infants translates into lower medical insurance claims for businesses.

According to the HRSA brochure, the insurance company CIGNA found in a study of 343 employees who participated in their lactation support program that the program resulted in an annual savings of $240,000 in health care expenses, 62 percent fewer prescriptions and $60,000 in reduced absenteeism rates.

Not surprisingly, employees who are supported in the workplace also consistently report improved morale, higher job satisfaction and greater productivity.

And Piurek's experience reiterates just how easy it can be to provide women with the privacy and comfort they need to be both a nursing mother and a productive, happy employee.

All it takes is a little support -- and maybe a Post It.

Alison Hamm can be reached at arhamm@indiana.edu.