Title

Nursing Mother’s Room

Why We Have a Nursing Mother’s Room

We provide a designated lactation room so that nursing mothers may have a comfortable and private place to express breast milk or nurse. Faculty, staff, students and visitors are welcome to use the space as long as they abide by the guidelines and the Terms of Use.

If you are a nursing mother whose child was born within the past 12 months, you are legally entitled to this resource to nurse or express milk per the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This act requires employers to provide nursing mothers with reasonable break time and a dedicated room to nurse or express milk for up to one year following the birth of a child. It also stipulates that such a room must be shielded from view, free from intrusion by co-workers and the public and cannot be a bathroom.

What’s Provided

The room locks from the inside, has electrical outlets for breast pumps, a refrigerator and a sink, with a comfortable place to sit. Lockers are available in the hallway.

Use of the Nursing Mother’s Room is optional. A nursing mother who has a private office or access to private space may choose to use that space instead of the lactation room. However, a nursing mother who wishes to use a space other than a lactation room should consult with her supervisor in order to ensure that the space she has chosen is both available and private.

To use the nursing room, stop by Safety Services on the first floor of the student center for the room key. A photo ID is required for campus visitors to use the space. You will leave your ID at Safety Services until you return the key. AU faculty and staff do not need to show an ID.

Employees

AU employees may use the room during regular break and lunch times. Additional reasonable breaks will be permitted as needed. It is the responsibility of the employee to coordinate the need, frequency and duration of time needed with her supervisor in a timely manner.

Supervisors

Supervisors should:

• Respond in a timely manner to an employee’s request for break and lunch times.
• Be flexible with an employee’s request for altering break and lunch times.

For your convenience, we have included the terms of use here and posted them in the Nursing Mother’s Room. The act of signing out the key indicates your understanding of and agreement to the following Terms of Use:

• Read and sign the Release before using the room, even if you do not plan to store breast milk in the room.
• You are responsible for the proper storage of your milk. If you choose to store milk in the room’s refrigerator, you will label the container with your name and the date collected so that it is not confused with another mother’s milk.
• Ashland University cannot guarantee that items left in the space are secure. Therefore, you will not hold Ashland University responsible for the loss, damage, theft or destruction of any item left in this space for any reason or by any cause.
• You will maintain the cleanliness of the space and report any concerns, damage or cleaning needs to Safety Services when returning the key.
• You will abide by the first-come, first-served policy, recognizing that the room cannot be reserved for a particular day and time.

Release

The act of signing out the key indicates your understanding of and agreement to the release statements that follow:

• I am aware that the university is providing a refrigerator in a secure room. I understand and hereby acknowledge that if my breast milk is damaged, lost, stolen or destroyed for any reason or by any cause, including but not limited to acts of God, nature, weather, fire, theft or otherwise, the university is not responsible.
• I do hereby release, hold harmless, indemnify, waive and discharge Ashland University and all its officers, agents and employees from and against any claims, demands, actions or causes of action arising from damages I may suffer or sustain by my storing breast milk in the Nursing Mother’s Room.

Contact Information

If you have any suggestions for improving the operation of this space or how we can better assist students, employees and visitors who are engaged in parenting, please share your ideas with Director Janel Molnar at JMolnar2@ashland.edu.