Mental Health

Very Few US Airports Actually "Breastfeeding Friendly"

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Oct 27, 2014 10:21 PM EDT

Many "breastfeeding friendly" airports in the United States aren't as friendly as they say, according to a new study.

After studying 100 U.S. airports, researchers found that very few offered suitably equipped private lactation rooms. This is strange because most of the airports studied described themselves as being breastfeeding friendly.

Lead researchers Michael Haight, University of California, San Francisco-Fresno and Joan Ortiz, Limerick Inc. (Burbank, CA) found that while 62 percent of the airports involved in the study answered "yes" to whether they were "breastfeeding friendly," only 37 percent actually had a specific lactation room. Furthermore, only 8 percent of airports offered a designated space that fit the minimum requirements of not being used as a bathroom and having an electrical outlet, table, and chair.

Breastfeeding friendly airports included San Francisco International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, Baltimore/Washington International, San Jose International, Indianapolis International, Akron-Canton Regional (OH), Dane County Regional (WI), and Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional (FL) airports.

"This study presents provocative data about our airports," Dr. Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine, said in a news release. "The good news is that 62% think they are 'breastfeeding friendly.' The bad news is that their actions do not support the claim. There is a lot of work to be done to make travel possible for breastfeeding dyads."

The findings are published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine

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