Texas Border Affairs
Laredo, Texas- The City of Laredo is proud to join a growing number of Texas entities in becoming a designated Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite in all of its city departments. Mother-friendly employers proactively support employees who choose to breastfeed their babies by providing time, space and other forms of support to continue breastfeeding after they return to work. Employers who offer mother-friendly workcamps benefit from better employee retention, lower absenteeism, higher morale, higher productivity, lower health care costs and improvement in the short and long-term health of the breastfeeding mother and her child.
Created by the Texas Legislature in 1995 and administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite Program recognizes employers with written policies reflecting their support for their breastfeeding employees. These policies provide flexibility in working hours to allow for breaks in milk expression; provide a private space, other than a bathroom, where the employee can express milk or breastfeed; and ensure easy access to a source of clean water and hygienic milk storage facilities.
To be designated as a Texas Mother-Friendly workplace, an employer must apply and qualify a written policy supporting employee breastfeeding with DSHS. An online application and list of Texas Mother-Friendly workcamps is available on the program’s website, http://texasmotherfriendly.org
“We want our employees who are new mothers to know that we support their decision to continue breastfeeding,” said Richard Chamberlain, Dr. PH, MPH, RS, Chief Health Officer for the City of Laredo. “We are extremely pleased to be designated as a Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite.”
For more information about the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite Program, visit the program’s website at http://texasmotherfriendly.org or contact the Department of State Health Services at 512-458-7111.
