To mark National Breastfeeding Awareness month (August), and support faculty, medical students and staff as they return for on-campus course work, the Wayne State University School of Medicine will establish a Maternal Support Room this week.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Maternal Support Room will take place Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. at Room 2103 Scott Hall. Because of the pandemic, the participants in the ceremony will be limited, but a link to the ceremony will be posted on the School of Medicine’s website Aug. 10.

Many working and student mothers who would like to breast feed their infants for the known health benefits have found expressing milk at work or school is either inconvenient or impossible given the need for privacy, refrigeration of milk and the need for running water.

School of Medicine students researched the topic through a study titled “Barriers to Women’s Advancement: Breastfeeding Support at the Workplace.” Based on insights derived from the study, including data from working and student mothers and an investigation of lactation spaces available at WSU, the study will be released in conjunction with the opening of the new room. Understanding the difficulty mothers face as they endeavor to nurse for their infant’s health while working or completing their education, students and faculty associated with the study acted on their findings and presented the need for additional lactation and nursing spaces available to mothers.

A list of all lactation and breastfeeding rooms on the WSU campus is available here.