Recommendations for designing lactation/wellness rooms

Lactation/wellness room design

Mothers returning to the workplace after childbirth face challenges to express medically beneficial breastmilk while also reentering the workforce. Companies that provide lactation rooms in the workplace help these employees achieve both of these goals. Public facilities increasingly provide Lactation and Mother’s rooms for nursing due to growing demand. Following the design guidelines given here will yield a room layout that is easy to use and offers comfort and respect to mothers.

Background

The influx of women in the workplace starting in the 1960s was partly attributable to the development of infant formula. Formula gives mothers of newborns added freedom to return to work after childbirth.  However, in the past 50 years, research findings overwhelmingly in favor of breast milk over formula have instigated a marked increase in the number of mothers choosing to nurse their children for the first year of life or longer.

The dramatic health benefits for infants and mothers have influenced these mothers to dedicate long hours to pumping and storing breast milk when they are not with their babies. Many of these mothers return to work after just 6–12 weeks, and they need a dedicated place where they can comfortably and efficiently collect and store breast milk in the workplace. Some lactation rooms may also be used for wellness purposes that incorporate other functions in addition to lactation support. Design considerations outlined here are primarily designed around lactation needs, but other medical needs may also be well served by these facilities.

Room requirements

Several times a day, a nursing mother needs a quiet, enclosed room to collect expressed milk. She needs a calm restful environment for an efficient and safe pumping session.

A typical pumping session includes changing clothes, sitting at a work surface in front of a pump for 15 to 30 minutes, placing milk in storage bottles, washing bottles and pump parts and packing them away until the next pumping session, and redressing and returning to work. At the end of the session, the pumped milk must be stored in a refrigerator or cooler. In an eight-hour workday, two or three pumping sessions are normal.

Other considerations for Lactation rooms, Mothers’ rooms, or Wellness rooms include the need for actual and perceived privacy. Working mothers experience a level of stress from newborn babies, transitioning work and family life. In addition, it is important to achieve auditory comfort in and around the space. Walls, doors, and locks must be substantial and provide a good sense of security. Particularly in public access facilities, such as airports, conference centers, libraries, museums, college campuses, shopping malls, and hotels, nursing mothers need a calm environment to breastfeed their babies and a secure space where their belongings, such as a stroller, can be accommodated.

Wellness rooms should provide, at a minimum, a lockable door; a work surface and chair; a small utility-type sink; storage for cleaning supplies and paper towels; adequate HVAC service, and well-placed electrical outlets. A refrigerator is desired in the workplace. Accessibility guidelines should be met for all the features of the room. The sample vignettes provide the space for pumping milk as well as breastfeeding.

Design recommendations

Size

A minimum footprint of 7 feet by 7 feet (2100X2100) is recommended as it allows for a five-foot (1500) radius circle with a 24-inch (600) deep counter. Other configurations such as 10 feet by 5 feet (3000X1500) work well in offices and public-facing facilities where more mothers are likely to be breastfeeding their babies.

Location

Each building should include a minimum of one Wellness room. While a minimum of one space per 100 women or 200 employees (male or female) is a general recommendation for Wellness Room programming, the number of rooms within a building should consider staff and visitor demographics and expected frequency of use. It is recommended that no more than four women per day be expected to share one lactation unit. Where possible, these rooms should be near other wellness amenities and bathroom facilities. Wellness rooms should be located in a safe area accessible to all. They should not be located in areas that would not be suitable for the preparation and storage of food.

Privacy

Install a user-operated lock with an indicator for privacy. The best locks include an indicator that displays an “occupied” message to discourage interruptions and still allow one-hand operation for exiting the room in the case of an emergency. For women who wish to pump in their own office, do-not-disturb door signs with the international symbol for lactation can be offered.

Sound Privacy

Walls should ideally reach up to the structure or install sound attenuation in walls to minimize echoes and sound transmission (i.e. minimum STC 45) over them into adjacent spaces. Carpeting or other sound-dampening materials to minimize echoes are recommended. Wall-to-wall carpeting is not recommended beneath chairs, preparation surfaces, or along the path of wheelchair use. However, cork, linoleum, and low-pile, easy-to-clean carpet tile may be acceptable for this application. Ease of maintenance is a consideration in high-use areas.

Materials

Striving to enhance indoor environmental quality, we encourage a material vetting and selection process that addresses health and toxicity issues for furnishings, cabinetry, and counters as well as materials including adhesives, sealants, and coatings. A screening process for maintenance and cleaning products is also encouraged.

Chair

Provide a task chair suitable for a workstation. Fabric or material designed for easy cleaning or wiping is recommended. Seat, back, armrest, lumbar, tension, and height adjustments are preferable. Casters are also important to allow the user freedom of movement when hands are occupied with bottles of milk and pump parts. A more comfortable chair could also be placed in the room if mothers frequently use the room to breastfeed their babies.

Table/counter

Provide a minimum of 18-inch deep by 32-inch wide laminate or solid work surface at desk height for the pump and bottles to rest on in front of the chair. The surface should be easily cleaned or wiped down for the next user. Provide clear knee space beneath the counter. Electrical outlets above the work surface should be provided for the pump and accessories.

Sink

Provide a sink and faucet combination deep enough to wash bottles and pump parts. Gooseneck or kitchen-type faucets are recommended. If possible, locate the sink adjacent to the work area and provide towel and soap dispensers nearby.

Lighting & HVAC

Uniform ambient light is encouraged to provide a restful and soothing environment. Task lighting should be provided over the sink and the pump area. Room temperature should be maintained year-round at a comfortably warm level such as in a dressing room. A thermostat in the room could increase user control and thermal comfort.

Milk storage

Install a midsize or compact refrigerator for milk storage in the workplace. Under-counter models help conserve floor space but should not take up the knee space beneath the work area. Refrigerators are not needed in public-facing facilities where use is more transient. Rooms that are sized to accommodate more than one user may require a mid-sized or a large refrigerator, depending on frequency of use.

Accessories

Useful accessories in a wellness room include a trash can, a paper towel dispenser, a coat rack or coat hooks, and a full-length mirror. Educational information for nursing mothers can be put on a bulletin board. Storage space for pumping supplies is recommended in office environments where users visit the room on a regular basis. Accessories should add to a calming environment and soothing wall color palette. If many mothers will be sharing the room, installing a scheduling system or communication board outside the door could facilitate efficient use of the room.

Multi-unit rooms

Depending on the size of the organization, there may be a need for a multi-station lactation suite. A multi-station lactation suite is a group of stations. A suite concept may encourage a nursing mother community, enhancing support for nursing mothers, as well as reducing wait times and scheduling conflicts. On-demand access to lactation suites through multi-station suites may be particularly important for women with unpredictable schedules or restricted break times. While suite rooms are encouraged in some large offices and institutions, a decentralized setting can also be considered in a campus setting. An indoor walking route of no more than 5-7 minutes from desk to pump is ideal as both long routes and outdoor routes discourage use. Employers should furthermore consider furnishing hospital-grade pumps, to minimize the time required and reduce the burden of transporting personal pumps.

Some mothers prefer to multitask during pumping sessions. We recommend a minimum of 30-foot candles in each of the units. In places where employees multitask, surfaces suitable for laptops or phones should be available along with normal office connectivity and/or Wi-Fi capabilities. Additional convenient counter height outlets may be necessary.

Resources

• Three sample lactation room designs
• Current research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Breastfeeding in the 21st century: Epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect
• Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices?

About the contributor

Liz York, FAIA, is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is a mother of three.

Joyce Lee, FAIA, is the President of IndigoJLD Green Health, with affiliations at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Public Health Initiatives and the Urban Health Lab. She is the former Chief Architect of the New York City Office of Management and Budget.

AIA collects and disseminates Best Practices as a service to AIA members without endorsement or recommendation. Appropriate use of the information provided is the responsibility of the reader.