Wellbeing (e.g. Youth, Community, Mental)
Sharing Session - 30 Minutes
Jennifer Parker, MS, RD, LD/N
Public Health Nutrition Program Director
Florida Department of Health - Pasco County
Rachel Romero, IBCLC
WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Florida Department of Health - Pasco County
In maintaining a diverse and well-rounded workforce, it is important to provide accommodations that prioritize the health of an organization’s employees and their families. Research has shown that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant’s life is especially important for maternal/child health and bonding. The Florida Department of Health in Pasco County (FDOH-Pasco) developed a pilot program, Baby on Board, to allow mothers to bring their children to work, until the age of six months, giving them the opportunity to return to work and exclusively breastfeed their baby on demand. The pilot was extremely successful with multiple benefits for both the agency and the employee. This presentation will review both the implementation process and the data collected throughout the pilot. The data collected included attitudes and beliefs regarding the presence of babies in the workplace as well as actual or perceived impacts on workplace morale, participant productivity, perception of the agency, participant customer service, and coworkers’ workload.