FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Grace Adams
PHONE: (310) 938-2682
E-MAIL:
gadams@BreastfeedLA.org
Embargoed for August 18, 2004:
Programs Focused on Supporting Employees with Families
Honored
Family Health Promotion Awards Given to Kaiser
Permanente Baldwin Park, Mattel, Inc., PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Los
Angeles Department of Water & Power, PHFE Management Solutions WIC
Program, REI WIC Program, Northeast Valley Health Corporation WIC
Program and Westside Children’s Center
LOS ANGELES, August 18, 2004 --- With the support of the Los
Angeles County Department of Health Services and in conjunction with
Breastfeeding Awareness Month, the Breastfeeding Task Force of
Greater Los Angeles honors Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park, the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power, Mattel, Inc., PriceWaterhouse
Coopers, PHFE Management Solutions WIC Program, REI WIC Program,
Northeast Valley Health Corporation WIC Program and the Westside
Children’s Center with the Family Health Promotion Award. The
Breastfeeding Task Force recognizes exemplary efforts of companies
that understand the need to provide an environment for its employees
to achieve a balanced work and family life.
Faced with the changing demographics of the workplace and increasing
demand for a balanced work and family life among employees,
companies offer family-oriented services that support lactating
mothers and their families through innovative programs that include
private rooms for expressing breast milk, parent resource library,
parenting workshops for expectant mothers and fathers, support
groups, breastfeeding equipment loan plans, and on-site childcare
facilities. With the passage of Assembly Bill 1025, the State of
California is one of the first states in the country to reduce a
major barrier to breastfeeding by enacting legislation requiring
employers to provide unpaid break time and a private space to
express breast milk during the workday.
“In order to help create a culture in which breastfeeding is once
again the norm, we need to support the women who choose to
breastfeed in all settings, from the hospitals when the babies are
born to the work sites when mothers return to work”, said Cynthia
Harding, Director of the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health unit
of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Findings
from the Los Angeles County Health Survey, 2002-03, revealed that
60% of mothers stopped breastfeeding when they returned to work
within six months of giving birth. Breastfeeding friendly
workplaces have been shown to decrease employee absenteeism by up to
57% due to the health benefits for both mother and baby, while
increasing employee retention and enhancing employee productivity,
loyalty, and morale.
"Since the well being of children and their families is an inherent
reason for our organization to exist, it is important to Mattel to
extend services and benefits to the working mothers and working
fathers that have made our organization into the number one toy
company in the world,” said Jules Andres, Senior Manager of
Corporate Communications for Mattel, Inc. “We wholeheartedly support
the important work of the Breastfeeding Task Force and are honored
to be recognized."
“In recent years more companies have initiated corporate lactation
and family care programs in recognition of the fact that employees
have an increasing demand to balance their work and family lives.
We commend Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park, the Los Angeles
Department of Water & Power, Mattel, Inc., PriceWaterhouse Cooper,
PHFE Management Solutions WIC Program, REI WIC Program, Northeast
Valley Health Corporation WIC Program and the Westside Children’s
Center for their leadership in supporting their employees’ choice to
continue to breastfeed when they return to work,” said Karen Peters,
executive director of the Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los
Angeles. “Programs such as those offered by these companies provide
health benefits to women and infants, while providing employers’
real business benefits such as increased employee retention and
lower health costs.” Details of each of the programs offered by
this year’s award recipients are described in the attached Fact
Sheet.
About the
Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
The Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles
is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about
breastfeeding support and decreasing the societal barriers to
breastfeeding. Many mothers fail to breastfeed or prematurely wean
because of a perceived or actual lack of support from their
employers. The Breastfeeding Works project will decrease those
barriers by helping employers to realize the value of supporting
breastfeeding working mothers. For more information, please visit
its website at
www.breastfeedla.org
