A Look Back: 2024 Stories on New Beginnings

As we begin the New Year, we are looking back at some highlights from New Beginnings in 2024. Below you’ll find our readers’ favorite stories from the year, in case you missed them or would like to read them again!

Pump act imageMany informational articles were featured in 2024. An article about the PUMP Act, written by Erin O., is an invaluable resource for nursing parents who are working.

“The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (the “PUMP Act”) was signed into federal law on December 29, 2022 and went into full effect on April 4, 2023. It makes several important changes to the 2010 Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, requiring employers nationwide to provide reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space for lactating employees to pump milk during the workday. The PUMP Act closes some loopholes that existed in the original 2010 law, especially the coverage gap that left one in four working women without federal protection of their rights to break time and a private place to pump milk at work. This new law expands the right to pump milk for their babies to nearly nine million more workers, including teachers, registered nurses, farmworkers, and others.” Find out more about your legal rights here.

Another popular story from the past year was a collection of inspiring stories from families balancing work and lactation.

“Cassie W. recalled her experience as a school teacher and leaning on support from her colleagues. “When I had my second child, I was pumping at work. My administration was great and allowed me to schedule my own times when I needed to be free to pump. During reading time, the reading coach at our school would come into my room and teach the reading lesson so that I could pump. I didn’t feel guilty because who could better step into my shoes than the reading expert at our school!” You can read more personal experiences here.

Inspiration and encouragement in parenting and lactation remain at the heart of the New Beginning blog focus. Last year, a special type of encouragement was offered to nursing families: Take more photos!

“Families can create breastfeeding art to celebrate and preserve the details of their own experiences. Photography is a quick and easy way to capture memories and save them for future reflection when your children are grown.” Learn more about the importance of lactation art and the history of breastfeeding art here.

The blog also highlighted lots of tips last year on a range of topics, which you can find below. Sharing information is a great way to keep families and lactation supporters up to date on what works and what doesn’t work.

Thank you for reading our weekly blog. We hope you’ll enjoy the stories we’ve planned for 2025 and beyond. We welcome and encourage you to share your experiences with us. Please send your questions and/or story submissions to Kylie at [email protected].


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