Welcome!

Login | Signup

40
Overcast

Home

News

Home

Sports

Opinion

Lifestyles

Galleries

Classifieds

News

Brookings pledges to be breastfeeding

friendly community
Story

Comments

Tweet
Tweet

Print

Font Size:

0
0

Posted: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 8:29 am | Updated: 9:16 am, Wed Apr 6, 2016.
HANNAH KOELLER Reporter |

0 comments

The South Dakota Department of Health chose Brookings as the pilot community for the Breastfeeding-Friendly
Business Initiative on March 22.
The Breastfeeding-Friendly Business Pledge shows that a business is willing to provide an environment where
mothers are able to breastfeed in public spaces and enjoy a welcoming attitude from staff, management and other
patrons while breastfeeding.

This initiative supports the Department of Healths goal to improve the health and well-being of mothers, infants,
children and families. Part of this is increasing the number of women who breastfeed for at least six months after
their baby is born.

According to the Nestle Nutrition Institute, breastfeeding is considered the nutritional gold standard for infant
nutrition and feeding and benefits their health, growth, immunity and development.

Brookings Supports Breastfeeding, a group of local health professionals and educators, has been working to make
breastfeeding in public and pumping at work a nonevent since 2012.

By nonevent, we mean mothers should not feel as if they are being harassed or made to feel ashamed or looked
down upon for doing what comes naturally, said Julia Yoder, the marketing and public relations director at
Brookings Health System. Theyre just trying to provide the optimum nutrition for their child.

Some of the groundwork prior to this project includes a community discussion about breastfeeding, surveys and
focus groups determining barriers in Brookings. The Brookings Health System also became a baby-friendly hospital,
one of only three and the first non-Indian hospital in the state, which provides optimal care to breastfeeding and
helping new mothers get started.

Search

The initiative is important to Brookings and other communities so mothers dont have to feel uncomfortable
breastfeeding in public or have a difficult time pumping when they return to work, said Jennifer Anderson, assistant
professor of communication studies and theatre.

If its possible to breastfeed, thats what we want all mothers to try to do, Anderson said. We want them to feel
empowered to do that, and, if they have chosen to, we would like them to be able to do it for as long as theyd like
to without any additional barriers or challenges.

The three main entities involved with this project are South Dakota State University, Brookings Health System and
the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce.

Other businesses that have taken the Breastfeeding-Friendly Business Pledge include the city of Brookings, 3M,
Hy-Vee, Brookings County and the Childrens Museum.

Hopefully at some point all of the businesses will get touched, said Joni Frolek, membership director at the
Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce. And were hoping through the media coverage weve had that people see
it and keep seeing it and then they take that initiative on their own.

The classes of Anderson, Rebecca Kuehl, assistant professor of Communication Studies and Theatre, and
Rebecca Britt, assistant professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, will go out into the community and
promote media kits for the initiative, which include a Breastfeeding Welcome Here window cling, information on the
benefits of breastfeeding, model policy language and staff education tips, among other things.

The professors said responses from their classes have been positive, with the students wanting to know more and
become educated on the subject. The professors were contacted by the Students Association to support
breastfeeding on campus by passing a resolution on the matter.

I think its cool that students are seeing that they can do something about this. Its an issue they care about and are
willing to be trailblazers for, Anderson said.

Prior to the Breastfeeding-Friendly Business Initiative coming to Brookings, The University Student Union had been
accommodating mothering requests and working with the need for at least 10 years, according to Jennifer Novotny,
executive director of The Union.

Novotny said this year The Union has received 10 to 15 requests for mothering rooms in the building, but with
excellent signage and dedicated space, the number would grow.

This is not a grand amenity, but rather, a basic need for public space, Novotny said. Making space available for
women to be successful in managing the care and feeding of their children should be a standard practice in public
spaces.

Though there have been hurdles in unexpected places and easy access where they didnt expect, the Brookings
Supports Breastfeeding group is determined to defeat the stigma around breastfeeding.

Despite being family-oriented and wanting healthy children, people in the Midwest seem to feel talking about
breastfeeding is taboo, Anderson said.

To want to do a normal biological function thats going to feed your child, I want that to be as much of a nonevent
as taking a lunch break, Anderson said.

In 2015, a state law was passed in South Dakota that protects women breastfeeding in public. All they are trying to
do, Frolek said, is ask the businesses to follow the law already in place and be welcoming to breastfeeding mothers,
whether employees or customers.

Each business needs to do exactly what they can to make that a good experience, Frolek said. Thats why the big

message we want to send to people is whatever you have as long as youre trying, thats great.

Following the pilot project, the Department of Health will assess the outcomes and discuss the opportunity to
expand the Breastfeeding-Friendly Business Initiative to other communities throughout the state.

Even though the pilot will end, Frolek said she cant imagine that Brookings Supports Breastfeeding will die down
any time soon.

Tweet

Tweet

Discuss

Print

Posted in News on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 8:29 am. Updated: 9:16 am.
#SDSUPresidentSearch: James Rankin
SA cuts student organization budget by $63,000
Former SDSU employee sentenced in idenity theft case
The 25 Toughest U.S. Colleges to Get Into (TheStreet)
Recommended by

Letter to the Editor

Vogel leaves Legacy at SDSU
New ag dean 'thrilled' to come back

Recommended by

Rules of Conduct
1

Keep it Clean.
Please avoid obscene, vulgar,
lewd, racist or sexuallyoriented language.
Don't Threaten or Abuse.
Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated.
AND PLEASE TURN OFF
CAPS LOCK.
Be Truthful.
Don't knowingly lie about
anyone or anything.

Be Nice.
No racism, sexism or any sort
of -ism that is degrading to
another person.
Be Proactive.
Use the 'Report' link on each
comment to let us know of
abusive posts.

Submit Your News!

We're always interested in hearing
about news in our community. Let us
know what's going on!

Share with Us.

We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind
an article.

Submit news

Homes

Jobs

Homes

Welcome to the discussion.

1 bedroom apartment available, close

to campus

Screen Name or Email

Updated: April 15

Password
Forgot?

2 female roommates needed

posted: April 06

Login

4 bedroom, 2 bath house for rent

posted: April 13
Need an account? Create one now.
More Homes

Print comments

The Collegian
Media/News/Publishing Brookings
1,848 likes

Liked

Share

You like this

The Collegian
19 mins

Moffitts career is now officially over as a

Jackrabbit. He averaged 4.6 points a
game during his career.

Moffitt
The SDSU

SDSUCOLLE

Like

Comment

The Collegian
2 hrs

Sections

Services

Contact us

Home

About Us

News

Contact Us

Sports

Submission Forms

Opinion

Site Index

Lifestyles

Add Search Toolbar

sdsucollegian.com

Galleries
Online Features
Weather

sdsucollegian.com
Phone number: 605-688-6164
E-mail: admin@sdsucollegian.com
Address: South Dakota State
UniversityUnion Room 069
Brookings, SD 57007

Search
Search
Search in:
All
News
Sports

Juice
Business
Opinion

Photos
Video

Copyright 2016, sdsucollegian.com, Brookings, SD. Powered by BLOX Content Management System from TownNews.com.

Share