WHAT IS THE BREASTFEEDING BILL?
Under this proposed bill, businesses must allow mothers who breast pump to use their breaks to pump during the workday, as well as mandating that breast pumping mothers be provided a room other than a bathroom in which to pump.

Read the actual bill, here.

See the full list of Senators who are sponsoring it, here.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Senator Zahra Karinshak (D-Duluth) is sponsoring the bill, which is being called “Charlotte’s Law,” (named after our listener’s daughter), along with Senators Ellis Black (R-Valdosta), Donzella James (D-Atlanta), Horacena Tate (D-Atlanta), PK Martin (R-Lawrenceville), and Burt Jones (R-Jackson). However, all that support doesn’t mean it passes – first, it needs to be presented to the Senate, voted on, and if it passes, it has to then pass in the House, then if it succeeds there, it has to NOT be veto’d by the Governor.

We need YOU to tell the state senator and representatives for your district that you want this bill supported.

Find out who your representatives are by clicking here.

After you enter your address, the first person to appear is your Senator (who you need to email). The second is your representative (House of Representatives).

BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO MY SENATOR!

Before you freak out – remember, these senators and representatives work for you! They were elected to serve the common interest of their district, and to do what the people in their district want (that means you!) If you don’t want to call them, you can copy and paste this email and send it to them – just make sure you fill in the reps info and your own info – the parts in red. It’s that easy!

NEED IDEAS? COPY / PASTE & SEND THIS EMAIL

Dear Senator [Senator Name],

My name is [insert your name] and I live in [insert your town], in your district.

As a constituent, I support the “Charlotte’s Law” Bill – SB 327 – sponsored by Senators Zahra Karinshak,  Donzella James, Horacena Tate, Ellis Black, P.K. Martin, and Burt Jones that supports a woman’s right to breast pump and express breast milk in the workplace during the workday.

Not allowing women to breast pump during the day not only affects milk supply, potentially stripping a child of their food supply, but it can be painful for a mother if milk is not expressed in a timely manner.

Additionally, it’s an issue of health. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children “exclusively breastfeed for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer.”

It also supports breastmilk based on the “unequivocal evidence that breastfeeding protects against a variety of diseases and conditions” including but not limited to, diarrhea, respiratory tract infection, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkins disease, and childhood overweight and obesity. Maternal benefits include decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, among others.

For the health of our children and our mothers, it’s so important that we support working mothers and their ability to express breastmilk in private in the workplace.

Please support this bill. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my email,

[Your Name]

THANK YOU EMAIL

If you want to write your Senator a thank you email for their support (if you know they’re already supporting it), here’s an email you can copy/paste or tweak:

Dear Senator [Senator’s Name],

I just wanted to say thank you for supporting the “Charlotte’s Law” Bill – SB 327 – that supports breast pumping moms in the workplace.

 

Best,

 

HOW DID THIS ALL START?
Check out the story below for how the breastfeeding bill came to be!

Our listener’s boss is threatening to fire her for breast pumping. She a teacher and doesn’t get many breaks. The time she does get she pumps.
Her breast pump is hands-free so she is also able to work during her planning period. However, her boss doesn’t believe she is being productive and basically gave her two options: either delay pumping until after work, which will affect her milk supply, or stay late after work to make up the time, which would eat into her family time.

For breastfeeding mothers, pumping during the workday is a necessity. A mother’s breast milk supply is based on infant feeding demand; expressing milk by pumping or feeding signals the body to continue making milk.
By delaying her pumping session to after hours, our listener noticed “Over the past few months my milk supply has slowly dwindled and I struggle to pump enough milk for my baby, so staying on a strict pumping schedule and having enough time to pump is crucial to make sure he has enough milk for the next day and to ensure that my supply doesn’t drop even more.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children be “exclusively breastfeed for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer.”

It also supports breastmilk based on the “unequivocal evidence that breastfeeding protects against a variety of diseases and conditions” including but not limited to, diarrhea, respiratory tract infection, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkins disease, and childhood overweight and obesity. Maternal benefits include decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, among others.

After hearing her story, The Bert Show contacted employee plaintiff lawyer Steve Wolfe with Lagare, Attwood & Wolfe, LLC.

What are her rights?

Once The Bert Show learned that due to the way Georgia State Law is written, Brackett would have no right to breast pump during the day, we knew something had to be done. We circle back with Steve and he has some BIG news for us!

Wolfe was able to contact Senator Zahra Karinshak (D-Duluth), who then authored the a bill that will be proposed to the state legislation that will CHANGE THE LAW in the state of Georgia, making it illegal for an employer not to allow employees to pump and that they must provide a room other than a bathroom in which to pump.

We tell Janet the teacher about the impact she’s had and the new law that’s getting proposed because of her email!

THE BILL HAS BEEN INTRODUCED!!! NOW WE NEED YOU TO CALL AND EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT IT!

Here’s our listener’s original email:

Over the past few months my milk supply has slowly dwindled and I struggle to pump enough milk for my baby, so staying on a strict pumping schedule and having enough time to pump is crucial to make sure he has enough milk for the next day and to ensure that my supply doesn’t drop even more.

With all of that being said, when I went back to work at the beginning of the year my boss (who was a female) gave me absolutely no issues when it came to needing time to pump and was 100% supportive of the way I chose to feed my baby. She was awesome!

I now have a MALE boss…

I’m a teacher and only get 2 “breaks” (that are not really breaks) a day… a 30-minute lunch break and a planning break. My lunch break doesn’t leave me enough time to pump, eat, and get back to the lunchroom in time to pick up my students. That leaves my planning period as my other time to pump, and I have more than enough time then to pump. I am able to still work during this time too because my pump is hands-free. So it’s a win/win.

Or it was until my new boss decided he had something to prove.

He recently called me into his office and told me that he assumes that I’m not planning during my planning period due to me having to pump. I explained to him that this was not the case but he didn’t care and said that there was no way for him to prove that I am working because he cannot be in there to “make sure” that I’m working while I pump.  After getting HR involved, I was told that I needed to either stop pumping during my planning period so I can work, or pump during planning and make-up the 30 minutes (it takes me to pump) each day after school… which means that I’m losing time with my family to stay at work to “make up” the time that I’m already working.

He forced me to make the decision before leaving his office and told me that “if I didn’t make the decision right now, he would consider it insubordination. So they literally want to FIRE me for not making a decision. A decision that will not only affect my own health but affect the heath of my baby!

I have contacted lawyers and have been told that because of the way the GA law is written he can get away with doing this to me and my baby. This is so sad and extremely messed up!

I have to work for this man until the end of the school year (May) because I have a contract and I just can’t afford to quit right now without another job already lined up.

This situation has only solidified that fact that it’s time to move on but how do I make it through the next 7 months with this man as my boss? Please help me figure this out!

Thanks in advance for any advice given!! I love you all at the Bert show!!”

Got drama in your life that you want advice on…but want to stay anonymous? No problem!

Send us an email at [email protected] (and mention you want to stay anonymous) and we’ll tell your story on the air and get the advice you need – without saying who you are!

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