Georgia Tech Nursing Moms Program

The ADVANCE Program for Institutional Transformation, with the support of interested individuals around campus, has proposed the creation of five nursing moms centers on the Georgia Tech campus. Each center will:

• Be a private space for nursing moms to express milk;
• Be available for faculty, students and staff;
• Contain a professional grade pump, mini-refrigerator, chair, table, breastfeeding/parenting literature
• Serve a particular area on campus, i.e., the Administration Building, the Student Center and three other locations to be determined
  

Purpose

To provide Georgia Tech's nursing mothers with a private, sanitary, onsite location to continue the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child without adding stress to their already busy lives.

Progress

There are currently three Nursing Moms Centers:

• The Administration building ( Tech Tower ) in the first floor women's lounge.
• The Wenn Student Center in the third floor women's lounge.
• College of Management , room 4144 ( Technology Square )

For security reasons, access to each center is subject to the operating hours of the building in which it is located. Look for the purple and white NMC icon.

Pumps

For most women, using a hospital-grade pump is up to 75% faster than using a personal pump, but mothers are welcome to bring their own pumps to use in the privacy of the Nursing Moms Centers (NMC), if they prefer. The pumps provided in the centers are Medela Lactina® Select hospital-grade breast pumps, and use of the pumps is free. Program participants who sign up to use the pumps in the NMC's are required to purchase their own accessory kits (Medela Lactina® Double Pumping System - about $45.00). Kits may be purchased at pharmacies which carry breast pump accessories, or found online at numerous web sites which promote breastfeeding. Additionally, moms who opt to use NMC pumps must first be shown how to operate them in a brief training session at time of enrollment in the Georgia Tech Nursing Moms Program.

Personnel

The ADVANCE office manages the Nursing Moms Program. Each individual center is administered by a SuperMom, an employee in the building who has been trained in the use of the pump and can provide support and answer questions. For the Administration Building, the SuperMom is Monique Tavares, who is available by phone at 5-0117 or by email at monique.tavares@coe.gatech.edu. For the Student Center and College of Management, the SuperMom is Angela Shartar. She can be reached at 5-2979 or by angela.shartar@oars.gatech.edu.

Requirements

Nursing mothers are required to participate in an onsite training program. Participation also requires an registration form and a signed agreement, which attests to familiarity with lactation center policy, and a commitment to adherence to rules for use of the rooms and the pumps.

For More Information

For more information, contact Angela Shartar in the ADVANCE office, 5-2979, or email angela.shartar@oars.gatech.edu.