New nursing room opens at Edwards clinic

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Stacy Sanchez
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 95th Medical Group Nursing Mothers Program now provides a location for mothers on base to use hospital-grade breast pumps during the workday.

The Nursing Mothers' Program has a room and equipment at the 95th MDG family practice clinic open to any Edwards working mothers who cannot breast-feed their child during the day.

The facility features four hospital-grade pumps, which allow mothers to pump breast-milk at a faster rate. The room also has a refrigerator to store breast-milk, a cleaning area and helpful books for mothers who want to learn the importance of nursing.

"The room is fantastic," said Ayesha Shields, a computer technician with the 95th Communication Squadron. "For a while, I didn't know about the room. I had to resort to using facilities that were very uncomfortable, which is difficult when producing milk."

The program currently has three mothers who use the facility, said Norella Hobby, 95th Medical Group family advocacy new parent support program manager.

"We want to provide as much as we can to mothers who are breast-feeding," Ms. Hobby said. "We understand the difficulties of not being able to breast-feed in a comfortable environment, so we created this room. We hope that more mothers come and use it."

The room is available to mothers during clinic hours.

"The room opens the same time as the clinic," Ms. Hobby said. "This should be good for mothers who need to use it during the day."

Ms. Hobby said they created the room to build healthier families and to give mothers of Team Edwards a better alternative for nursing.

"Mothers who nurse give their children the most complete mix of nutrients and antibodies," Ms. Hobby said. "Children are less likely to become ill if a mother is breast-feeding."

Ms. Shields said this room has really helped her and her family.

"Now that I am able to use these advanced pumps, I am able to pump more milk than before, which has improved my daughter's health," Ms. Shields said. "I feel more at ease knowing I have some privacy."

Ms. Shields said the support system through the Nursing Mother Program has been phenomenal.

"They have done so much by providing mothers with this space," Ms. Shields said. "I recommend it to any mother who is nursing."

Ms. Hobby said she hopes to get word out about this room.

"If it is successful, we hope to put more of these rooms in other areas around base," she said. "We just need mothers to speak up and say they would want one of these rooms in their building."

For more information about the Nursing Mothers Program, call Norella Hobby at 277-5292.