Local Affiliate Spotlight

  • Ribbon cutting, red and blue ribbon, at courthouse, two caucasian women in red dresses with black blazers, caucasian man in a black business suit, professional dress
  • comfortable chair in a private room, cream colored chair, image of tree, lactation room for nursing mothers
  • comfortable chair in a private room, cream colored chair, image of tree, lactation room for nursing mothers
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Professional Caucasian woman, white shirt, black blazer, light brown hair, blue eyes

An Update on the Thirteenth Circuit’s Lactation Rooms: Over Two Years Later and We’re Still Pumped

By: Nicole Gehringer & Lyndsey Siara

Over the past few years, the publicity around lactation rooms has gained wide popularity. It is an issue that the Florida Association for Women Lawyers has taken on, creating a Lactation Room Task Force that has, among other things, created a Courthouse Lactation Room Handbook (to which we contributed—check it out here https://www.fawl.org/lactation-room-task-force). It is incredible to realize now that the Thirteenth Circuit was at the forefront of this movement. At the time we proposed the institution of a lactation room in our Circuit, we were just two moms who saw a need and thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be nice if . . . .” It has been two and a half years since we spearheaded the opening of two lactation rooms in Tampa, and we are still pumped about it!

If this were an expose on lessons learned, we would encourage you not to harbor great ideas. Our lunch break discussion about the challenges of pumping at work led to the opening of two lactation rooms at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse and Annex in Tampa. In celebration of Mother’s Day two plus years ago, we cut the ribbon to the rooms you see here, and embraced nursing and pumping mothers who find themselves at the courthouse. Attorneys, professional staff, and the general public have the peace of mind that there is a clean, private, dedicated space for them to nurse or pump at our courthouse. And the data doesn’t lie; we were spot on about the need for these rooms.

Since opening on May 12, 2017, our lactation rooms have been used nearly 1,000 times! That means the rooms have been used almost every. single. day. since the ribbon cutting, many times by multiple users in one day. Most surprising to us was the number of jurors and members of the general public who used the rooms, which was more than any other group! Other users include courthouse staff, attorneys, and employees of stakeholders such as the State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Office. Particularly moving are testimonials from other attorneys that the lactation rooms make pumping while practicing law a realistic option.  If there was ever a doubt about the need for these dedicated spaces, we are happy to report that our lactation rooms are frequently used. If this update has inspired you to explore opening a lactation room in your area, we encourage you to review FAWL’s Handbook and reach out to us! We would love to help you make it a reality!