Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/120877
BREASTFEEDING HAVING A BABY? CTA understands seeking early and regular prenatal care is one of the best things you can do for your baby. Partnering with the Mayo Clinic, the CTA Well-Baby Program includes: ��� Growth Chart and Pregnancy Calculator to help get your pregnancy off to a healthy start. ��� 24-hour toll-free nurse line to get answers to questions related to your health or the health of your baby during pregnancy or up to three months postpartum. ��� Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy: a 500-page reference guide that will inform, reassure and educate future parents. For details: www.ctamemberbenefits.org/ wellbaby To enroll: Contact Mayo Clinic Health Coaching for Pregnancy, (800) 906-1064 Teresa Shimogawa���s husband Kenneth, also a teacher, covered her classroom while she used his for pumping. class during his prep period while she was pumping. Both belong to the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association. ���We discussed the situation ahead of time, but the administrators had no clear policy. When I first asked where I could pump, they suggested the bathroom, and I said, ���No, that���s not going to happen.��� So I went to my husband���s classroom while he covered mine.��� Her chapter president intervened, and a memo was issued on how the district will meet the needs of nursing moms in the future. ���When schools make it hard for teachers so they give up, that is kind of sad,��� says Shimogawa, an AP government teacher, now pregnant with her second child. ���Most people don���t know how to approach it. It���s best not to be shy.��� Rebecca Conklin was anything but shy before she returned from maternity leave in January 2011. She looked up state and federal law. She talked to other employees who returned to work while nursing their babies. They shared horror stories, like being walked in on by staff members or being offered a restroom. Because district administrators blew off Conklin���s concerns, the English teacher at San Benito High School in Hollister met with her superintendent to discuss state laws. He was supportive from the beginning, but getting others on board was more challenging. Her school now has a room designated for nursing mothers on campus, which Conklin furnished with supplies and donations from staff. ���Parenting is the hardest job there is, followed by teaching,��� says Conklin, San Benito Joint Union High School Teachers Association. ���I���m still working with district administration to provide mothers with options and information before taking maternity leave. Districts need to be aware of the law and to support their staff by actually following it. I���m proud to help change this situation and make it better for nursing moms.��� For more information, CTA attorney Michael Hersh recommends visiting www.californiabreastfeeding.org and www.usbreastfeeding.org/employment/workplacesupport.aspx. MORE INFORMATION For the rest of the story, see www.cta.org/breastfeeding. 36 California Educator April 2013