To help reduce stigma and increase breastfeeding rates, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health is providing more resources to nursing mothers when they are in public places.

To do this, the department is working with local establishments to provide resources and private spaces where women can breastfeed while in places such as museums and libraries.

While women are already able to breastfeed in public spaces, these efforts will hopefully help them feel comfortable and encourage more women to breastfeed, according to Carissa Glatt, Ramsey County’s Statewide Health Improvement Partnership grant coordinator.

Part of the efforts are to encourage businesses to create “breastfeeding-friendly spaces,” which often are private, comfortable places for women to go that is not a bathroom.

The idea came from an initiative by the Minnesota Department of Health that encourages creating more public places for women to breastfeed, Glatt said.

The department partnered with the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul to look at how businesses can provide resources to nursing mothers.

Before the partnership, the museum already established quiet corners for women to use on each floor and a wellness room where people may go to pray, breastfeed or desensitize in private.

Kara Zetzman, employee experience manager at the museum, said that as a mother, she found it difficult to find a quiet, comfortable place to breastfeed while in public.

The museum, along with county officials, are working to make that easier.

Employees at the museum also are taught to give mothers space while letting them know about resources available to them.

“Whatever is good for mom, we just try to be around to let moms know we are there if they need any assistance,” said Ellen O’Connor, director of visitor relations at the museum.

While women are able to breastfeed in any public or private space under state law, there may still be stigmas around breastfeeding in public and some women may not feel comfortable.

“Personally, I understand that there are so many barriers in our system. There needs to be more than just education around this,” said Franny Clary-Leiferman, a health educator for the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership.

Clary-Leiferman is also part of the Twin Cities Regional Breastfeeding Coalition, which works to normalize conversations around breastfeeding and provide opportunities to support families in the metro area.

Along with trying to create more private spaces for women to breastfeed, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health is also working on other initiatives to improve breastfeeding rates.

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Another initiative is working to communicate with members of different ethnic communities around the county to reduce stigma and improve breastfeeding rates. According to Glatt, there are large disparities in the rate of women breastfeeding between different communities.

While the initiative to provide private, comfortable spaces for women to breastfeed while in public is still in the early stages, Glatt said the work in general around breastfeeding advocacy has taken off.

“There is a lot of momentum in the metro area right now around breastfeeding,” Glatt said.