2005 Recipients of Family Health Promotion Award
2004 Recipients of the Family
Health Promotion Award
presented by the Breastfeeding
Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
Kaiser Permanente Baldwin
Park
Kaiser Permanente, one of the
country’s
nonprofit health care organizations, with 147,000 employees
across the nation, operates a breastfeeding clinic at
the Baldwin Park hospital for its members and employees who
need assistance with breastfeeding and parenting
counseling. In the clinic, a lactation room equipped with
three hospital breast pumps and furnished with a sink,
chairs, footstools, and resource materials is made available
to both members and employees. The program has resulted in
less absenteeism due to child-related illness and has
increased the number of employees returning to work after
the birth of their child.
Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power
An analysis conducted by the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power showed that 35% of the
work force sampled regularly missed work due to a range of
childcare problems, and that estimated losses in salaries
and benefits were in excess of $1 million. In response to
this problem and growing customer service challenges, the
department launched the Work and Family Life Program. It
offers a wide range of services to support its employees.
LADWP offers subsidized childcare, parenting workshops,
resource library, “birth alert” beepers, expectant parent
services, fathering support, “healthy start” lactation
program with an on-site lactation consultant and fully
equipped lactation rooms. Since its inception, staff has
served 25% of the total workforce and 64% of the targeted
employees with dependents. 86% of employees served reported
that the Work and Family Life Program eased their transition
back to work; 71% said they took less time off since
participating in the program; and 83% agreed LADWP was an
excellent place to work.
Mattel, Inc.
The lactation room at Mattel's corporate offices in El
Segundo was established almost 15 years ago to assist
working mothers who are returning to work after maternity
leave. A second room was added at Mattel's Design Center,
also located in El Segundo, a few years later. The
lactation rooms are very popular with nursing mothers as
they are a private place to bond with other working mothers,
as well as to share stories and suggestions. Recently
renovated, the Lactation Rooms include: storage lockers with
combinations, tables and telephones, refrigerator with
freezer, sink with 180-degree hot water for washing,
bulletin board for pictures and announcements, magazines
such as Parenting and Working Mother and a comfortable
environment. The room is also stocked with a variety of
brochures regarding newborns, breastfeeding and other local
resources. Mothers requesting to use the lactation rooms
check out a key and, if lockers are available, are assigned
a locker. The rooms accommodate approximately 50 working
mothers a year. Mattel’s support for its breastfeeding in
the workplace combined with its Child Development Center
where employees have access to day care facilities on-site
has gained the company a solid reputation as one of the best
places to work.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Because studies have long
linked significant health benefits with breastfeeding,
PricewaterhouseCoopers has invested in the New Mom's
Corporate Lactation Program to provide support for new
mothers at PwC, as well as for PwC spouses and domestic
partners, who choose to continue to nurse their babies after
returning to work. This is just one of the many programs the
firm provides to its working parents to help give them the
support and flexibility they need to better manage their
worklife quality. Other programs include nine to 11 weeks
of paid maternity leave, access to flexible work
arrangements, up to 20 days of emergency backup childcare
reimbursement, and local backup childcare centers in many
locations. The firm contracted with an expert in the field
to administer its Corporate Lactation Program, which
includes:
-
Prenatal education
-
The ability to purchase a
high-end breast pump for a nominal co-pay (PwC pays the
rest)
-
24/7 access to a
certified lactation consultant by phone, who provides
unlimited maternity leave support as well as
return-to-work consultation
-
Mothers Rooms in all PwC
offices so employees can pump at work
PHFE Management
Solutions WIC Program, REI WIC Program, Northeast Valley
Health Corporation WIC Program
The Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children - better
known as the WIC Program - serves to safeguard the health of
low-income women, infants, & children up to age 5 who are at
nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement
diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to
health care. The three largest agencies providing WIC
services in Los Angeles county also provide workplace
support to their breastfeeding employees.
PHFE Management Solutions WIC
operates the Employee Perinatal Support Program (EPSP) where
staff are able to access both pre-natal and post-partum
services. Prenatal, breastfeeding classes are provided
along with monthly prenatal support groups. A Trained
Lactation Coach, who is a fellow employee with additional
breastfeeding training, is chosen by the pregnant employee
to support her as she breastfeeds. Telephone contact, home
and hospital visits are made as needed. In addition,
recognition is given to new mothers and their newborn with
photos and posters, all displayed at the company
headquarters as well as the employee’s worksite. In the
last two years, the program has resulted in 100%
breastfeeding initiation and 56% breastfeeding rate at 12
months. This is far above the national averages of 70%
initiation and 17% breastfeeding at 12 months.
At the REI WIC Program,
employees know from the first day of employment that the
organization provides a family-friendly environment with
their stated policies to support breastfeeding, childcare
and nutrition. Pregnant employees are provided counseling
and encouraged to plan for their child’s nutrition. After
they return from maternity leave, employees are able to
access a private area to express breastmilk, equipped with
breastfeeding tools such as a pump, chair, refrigerator and
various resources on infant care. As a result, turnover is
low at REI-WIC, absenteeism due to infant illness is low as
mothers report healthier babies and breastfeeding initiation
is high.
The North East Valley Health
Corporation provides peer-to-peer counseling services along
with lactation consultants. Classes are offered on
breastfeeding and a private room is provided that is
equipped with a pump, refrigerator and other resources.
During maternity leave, peer counselors provide support
through constant communication and visitations. 100% of
NEVHC WIC Program employees who have given birth in the last
year have initiated breastfeeding.
Westside
Children’s Center
Since its inception in 1987, the
Westside Children's Center has been providing foster care
and family reunification services to children ages birth to
eight who experienced child abuse and/or neglect. Over time
the agency's services have expanded to include childcare and
adoption, as well as child development and family support
services that strengthen families and support children.
Breastfeeding employees of the Westside Children’s Center
have the benefit of a private space with an electric outlet,
sink, and built in storage for the breast pump that was
donated by an employee who has the desire to share her
breastfeeding success with her co-workers by making sure a
pump is available. |
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