Rapides Regional Medical Center becomes ‘Mom at Work’ site

ALEXANDRIA, La., Feb. 4 – With 1,217 female employees – 759 of them under the age of 45 – it makes sense that Rapides Regional Medical Center would want to be part of the Central Louisiana Breastfeeding Coalition’s “Mom at Work” program.

After all, breastfeeding promotes better health for babies and their mothers – which translates into fewer sick days, and ultimately, saves money for the employer and the employees.

“Rapides Regional Medical Center had been providing all the necessary components of the ‘Mom at Work’ program for several years, but we just made it official this month,” said Tracy Strange, RN, IBCLC, RLC, who works in the Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s Breastfeeding Center.

“We have four, private breastfeeding rooms on campus for our moms. We provide the breastfeeding kit and a hospital-grade breast pump so they don’t have to bring a pump with them to work. Plus, we give our breastfeeding moms the time they need to pump at work.”

The “Mom at Work” program, which began June 2008, is designed to help Rapides Parish businesses set up written policies for women who wish to return to work and continue to provide breastmilk for their babies.

“Since we began the program in 2008, we’ve recruited 15 businesses into the ‘Mom at Work’ program,” said Ary Deaton, Central Louisiana Breastfeeding Coalition executive director. “Of course, we’re thrilled to add RRMC to our list. They’ve been providing many of the necessary services on their own for quite a while and now it’s official.”