When Johnathan Fowler had his first child in 2014, it was the first time he realized how hard it can be for new parents to breastfeed.
"I was completely uneducated," Fowler told Morning Edition's Michel Martin.
Fowler remembers his wife nursing in her office when she went back to work after having their first child. Sometimes she'd use the bathroom to get some privacy. That's when Fowler decided his a car dealership with locations in Oklahoma and Colorado, would offer employees a different experience.
"I think the personal became the passionate for me," Fowler said.
Fowler installed eight designated lactation spaces in 2021 for his employees and customers to use — two years before a new law that makes designated breastfeeding stations available across American workplaces.
The PUMP Act, which went into effect April 28th, expands protections for people who chose to breastfeed. The bipartisan law passed in December as part of the omnibus bill. Previously, the 2010 Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act required businesses to provide a designated area and break times for hourly workers to nurse. The new law extends these protections to salaried workers, like nurses and teachers. It also allows workers to sue their employers if they do not abide by this rule.
The Center for American Progress estimates that this act will expand breastfeeding protections to an additional nine million women in the United States.
"This normalizes that women and women's bodies belong in all industries,...
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