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New lactation rooms will make campus more accessible

Lactation Rooms
Lactation Rooms

Facilities Services has revised the UNC Design Guidelines so all new construction and major renovation projects must include a designated lactation space, said Clare Counihan, program coordinator for faculty and staff at the Carolina Women’s Center.

For buildings that aren’t about to be renovated, Provost Jim Dean and Chancellor Carol Folt have approved money to add lactation rooms, Counihan said.

The University and the Carolina Women’s Center have worked together to meet two major goals — having a lactation room within a two-minute walk of any part of campus, and educating students, faculty and staff about their entitlement to spaces for nursing.

Counihan, who worked to get this project off the ground, said it will have a huge impact on campus.

“Students, staff without individual offices and faculty teaching away from their offices need a private, clean space to pump or nurse that is not a bathroom,” she said in an email.

Counihan said the addition of lactation rooms makes the University a more inclusive environment. It eliminates a complication that arises for women who want to return to work and have decided to breastfeed their child.

“With campus support, mothers who choose to nurse can continue to pursue their educational and professional goals in balance with their personal and family decisions,” Counihan said.

She said this project is also a recognition that student demographics are continuously shifting — with more students starting college later in life or returning for further education.

“For students, it can mean the difference between finishing their degrees and not,” she said.

Rumay Alexander, special assistant to the Chancellor, said she fully approves of the project.

“Lactation rooms — one might think is only a women’s issue, (but) it really is about the future, about future generations, and it really is an issue that touches all members of our community,” Alexander said.

Some lactation rooms will be available for use at the end of this semester, with more opening in the spring, said Michael Pierce, a planner for Facilities Services.

“We have several that we’re trying to get done that are smaller projects...(we’re) trying to get those onlined by the end of the year, and we have several more that should be coming up online in the springtime,” Pierce said.

The 13 current lactation rooms on campus can be found on the Women’s Center website. Counihan said campus community members can contact her through the website if they need a temporary space to nurse in their building before the new rooms open.

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