Healthcare reform act is good for nursing moms

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law this year should help increase breastfeeding rates by making it easier for working mothers to continue to provide breast milk for their babies.  Under the law, employers have to provide nursing breaks and clean, private places for moms who work as nonexempt employees to pump.  Companies with fewer than 50 people are still exempt from the law, but the law is designed to help those who need it most---lower-income and lower-educated women. 

President Obama has gone a step farther too, asking the federal government to establish new guidelines for all federal employees no matter what their status is (exempt or nonexempt).

There's more to be done but this is one step.  Hopefully it will make a difference.  But the real task lies in education and awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and the support needed both at home and in the workplace.  Without those, progress will be limited.