What took them so long?
“Just this week, the Senate became a ‘breastfeeding-friendly’ government establishment with the launching of its very own breastfeeding room for the exclusive use of nursing female members of the senators’ staff and the Senate secretariat,” reports InterAksyon.com.
The “breasfeeding room” is located at the extension wing of the fifth floor of the Senate, where most of the senators’ offices are located.
The report noted that “the air-conditioned room—which measures 2.5 meters x 4.5 meters—is furnished with comfortable seats and tables, a refrigerator for storing milk, electrical outlets for breast pumps, as well as reading materials on breastfeeding, maternal health, and child care.”
The room will be open during work hours for nursing employees as a private area where they could express their milk or breastfeed their baby.
The report added that the room was born out of “a joint initiative of the office of Senator Pia S. Cayetano, in partnership with the Senate Gender and Development Focal Point Group, and the chamber’s leadership under Senate President Franklin Drilon.”
Take note: “The establishment of ‘breastfeeding rooms’ or ‘lactation stations’ in public places, government establishments, and private offices is mandated under the ‘Expanded Breastfeeding Act of 2010’ (Republic Act No. 10028), which was authored and sponsored by Cayetano.”
Photo by Skylab ISS (WikiCommons)
