Harvard Expands Options for Employees Who Breastfeed

Harvard University has had lactation rooms on campus for more than a decade but often the rooms were too far away for some workers and were not well equipped. Now two new rooms have been added and three more have been upgraded.

A new lactation room has been established in Widener Library in Harvard Yard. Eight hospital-grade pumps have been made available for working mothers. The machines can be used for free but users must provide their own auxiliary kit.

Nancy Costikyan, director of the Office of Work/Life at Harvard, stated, “Recent improvements are good news for mothers and infants, and good news for the workplace. Harvard wants all of these talented people to be able to meet their families’ needs while they continue to give Harvard their best work.”

Costikyan is also a lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is a graduate of Art Institute of Chicago and holds a master of social work degree from Simmons College.