Breastfeeding is extremely common in the United States, with more than 83 percent of infants born in 2019 receiving breastfeeding at some point. Yet as breastfeeding mothers return to work, millions of them have been left without break time or space to pump at work, which can lead to serious economic and mental health consequences.

In recognition of this problem, on December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the bipartisan Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act as part of the omnibus budget bill for fiscal year 2023. First introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the PUMP Act represents a major step forward in protecting nursing mothers who want to breastfeed in the workplace.

The PUMP Act builds on the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act (the break time law), passed in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The PUMP Act amends and expands that legislation to provide workplace protections to nearly 9 million additional breastfeeding employees who were not previously covered under the ACA and makes available enforcement mechanisms that were not included in the 2010 law.

This column details five facts about the PUMP Act.

1. The PUMP Act will expand critical workplace protections to millions of nursing mothers nationwide

The PUMP Act is an expansion of the 2010 break time law, which provides key workplace protections for nursing mothers, including reasonable break time to nurse and a private...

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