Sojourner Marable Grimmett, MA

Monica Lindsey Ponder, MS, MSPH

Co-founders, Table for Two Foundation, Inc.

 

Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

• TFT is a community organization that seeks to establish public lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.

• We provide grassroots and real-world approaches to building global breastfeeding acceptance.

• The signature TFT campaign asks the important question, "You wouldn't eat in the bathroom, so why would you expect a baby to?"

Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

In public locations locally and broadly, lactating mothers are asked to feed their children in the restroom or to call in advance of their travel plans to arrange a private room to

pump or breastfeed.

All breastfeeding mothers deserve safe, secure, and comfortable places to pump and nurse.

Table for Two seeks to build awareness so that this basic human right will become a reality. The TFT campaign is a resource for anyone looking to build lactation rooms in their

community and workplaces.

Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

• Over the last several decades, there have been major changes in the United States in how families address the issue of women working outside the home.

• Fifty years ago, the majority of American women did not work outside the home. However, two wars played a major role in the labor workforce: World War II and the Vietnam War.

• After the war, most of these women returned to their previous roles as wives and homemakers, although a significant minority remained in the workforce.

• With the emergence of the women’s rights movement of the 1960s, women began to demand equal opportunity for employment and better wages.

History

A couple years ago, I interviewed working mothers in higher education to find out how they balance work and motherhood. Common themes emerged from the interviews:

• Torn with how to balance work and motherhood

• Frustrated with the lack of work policies to support mothers

• Guilt

• Extremely grateful for and expressive about the importance of family support

Motherhood and the Workplace

“Working Moms: Finding a Balance. Between Work and Motherhood,” Chapter 1 was first published in the SACRAO Journal, volume 23, pp. 5-10. (2001)

According to Mason and Ekman:• Most women who choose to have

a career and family are forced to modify the pace at which they are able to move up the professional ladder.

*** “Women adopt various strategies to

successfully combine family and employment obligations. One is to postpone childbearing and to have

smaller families. Another adaptation is women’s choices of part-time or

gender-segregated jobs that are supposedly easy to enter, leave and

reenter.” (Spain & Bianchi, 1996)

Motherhood and the Workplace

“Working Moms: Finding a Balance. Between Work and Motherhood,”Chapter 1 was first published in the SACRAO Journal, volume 23, pp. 5-10.

• There is a constant struggle between family-friendly pursuits that support family and children and the yearning women have to pursue professional careers. In some situations, employers respect the need; in others, they don’t.  

• Ann Crittenden (2001) in The Price of Motherhood states:  “A mother’s work is not just invisible; it can become a handicap. Raising children may be the most important job in the world, but you can’t put it on a résumé” (p. 3).

• The achievement of success for most women is having a profession, healthy and positive families, and supporting the development of one’s children.  

Sojourner Marable Grimmett

Motherhood and the Workplace

82.8 million Estimated number of moms in the US and roughly 61% of moms work.

Modern MomsAverage 2 Kids (1950s: 3.3 Kids, 1700s: 7-10 Kids).

First-time MomsAverage age of new moms is 25 (vs. 21 in 1970).

7 out of 10Moms are in the labor force, compared with 5 out of 10 in 1950.

Facts

4 out of 10 Moms who work full time perform volunteer work at some point during the year.

Several reasons why women return to work: • Families dependent on two incomes.

• Being the primary breadwinner for their children.

• Women want to work outside the home because they desire to achieve through professional careers of their own.

Breastfeeding during the first 12 months of an infant’s life has been shown to provide tremendous health benefits for the child, even long-term.

The decision to return to work can sometimes conflict with a mother’s breastfeeding goals.

Source: Utgoff, K. (2005, May). Labor Market Data. Speech presented before Joint Economic Committee for United States

Congress: Washington, D.C.

Facts

• Women have lobbied for years to establish lactation rooms in their places of employment and public facilities.

• Only recently have states begun to pass laws that help ensure that mothers have a private place to nurse their children.

2 Major Challenges

• I believe there are a lot of women who want to continue breastfeeding when they return back to work from maternity leave, but decide to stop nursing because there is no place for them to pump at work.

• However, I also feel that having a compassionate and supportive supervisor can make a world of difference for nursing moms and can support "Breast Time.”

Breastfeeding in the Workplace

• Unfortunately, many mothers stop breastfeeding prematurely due to the inconvenience and lack of privacy

• The painful reality of allowing breast milk to “dry up” when women are not ready to stop nursing can cause tremendous grief, depression, and disappointment for mothers anxious to provide the most important nutrients to their newborn.

• If you are interested in breastfeeding and don’t have a lactation room at your job, then speak up and request that a private room be established.

• Table for Two, Incorporated was created to foster the establishment of public lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers

Breastfeeding in the Workplace

Sojourner Marable Grimmett

• Prior to our first son’s birth I was a workaholic.  I worked more than 10-hour days and responded to work-related e-mails on the weekends. My life was my job; and work came first.  I skipped family functions and sorority meetings to perform work related tasks.  I sacrificed my personal and social life to advance my professional career.

• I had fears of returning to work—fears of not being able to juggle my new life and fears that my supervisor and co-workers would not understand my struggle to maintain a happy medium. And, although, I am an extremely good multitasker, having the responsibility of taking care of another human being is a huge deal.  Sleep deprivation, diaper changes, dressed in burping clothes, and pacing up and down the same hallway ruled my whole universe. I was a changed woman.

Background: My Journey

Sojourner Marable Grimmett

Sojourner Marable Grimmett

Balancing a Professional Career and Motherhood

• Asked my supervisor if I could change my work hours to 8 am – 5 pm, in order to pick up our son from daycare

• Found a daycare facility where I could monitor our child online

• Made a firm commitment to leave work on time every day

• With our second child, I helped establish a lactation room on campus, in order for moms to have a safe place to pump and maintain their milk supply

Now I advocate for other working mothers!

Maternity leave gave me time to collect my thoughts and prioritize my life. Before returning back to work (from maternity leave with our oldest son), I decided to modify my work schedule in this manner:

How can you Support TFT?

• Like our Facebook page

• Follow us on Twitter @LactationRooms #LactationRooms

• Share your comments on our YouTube video

• Share our campaign with others

• Recommend a company to TFT (Breastfeeding friendly or not)

Take action today to help establish lactation rooms in

public places!

Current project: Send an email to HJAIA encouraging them to establish lactation rooms at: http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Airport/ATL/contact_information.aspx

Sojourner Marable Grimmett talks

about the goal and efforts of her

Public Square Atlanta group,

"Establish Lactation Rooms

at Atlanta's Airport," as well as what she sees as

the benefits to both the public and

airport in providing dedicated spaces

for nursing mothers.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BW1jUAhMHk

www.supporttablefortwo.org

www.facebook.com/supporttablefortwo

Helpful Publications and Resources

Ellison, S. (2001). The Courage to Be a Single Mother: Becoming Whole Again After Divorce. New York: HarperCollins.

Gentile, M. C. (1996). Managerial Excellence Through Diversity: Text & Cases. Illinois: Waverly Press.

Kunhardt, J., Spiegel, L. & Kunhardt, S. (2004). Intimate Dialogue on Becoming a Mother. New York: The Soho Parenting Center.

Orenstein, P. (2000) Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids & Life in a Half-Changed World. New York: Anchor Books.

Sachs, W. (2005) How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-At-Work Moms. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

Warren, E. and Tyagi, A. (2003) The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle Class Parents Are Going Broke. New York: Basic Books.

Sojourner Marable Grimmett

Thank you! Thank you!

Please feel free to email us!

Sojourner Marable Grimmett, MA Email: SojournerGrimmett@gmail.com Web: http://sojournermarablegrimmett.blogspot.comPhone: 404.783.3522

Monica Lindsey Ponder, MS, MSPHEmail: mlp@mlpcommunications.comWeb: www.mlpcommunications.comPhone: 404.593.5597

For more information, please visit www.supporttablefortwo.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/supporttablefortwo, and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lactationrooms.