Nursing mothers may be guaranteed break time and a place to pump breastmilk at work under a bill meant to align state law in Alabama with a recent federal law.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, filed the bill, HB6, for workers in the state, like those at manufacturing jobs, who aren’t able to take a break long enough to pump breastmilk. The bill allows them to step away for a few minutes to pump breastmilk in a designated, private space.

“We would think this would be a no brainer,” she said, adding that the situation is creating a lot of stress for some mothers. “Mothers should not have to take leave time to nurse.”

The bill requires Alabama employers to provide reasonable unpaid break time or to permit an employee to use paid breaktime to express breast milk.

The bill states employees should make efforts to minimize disruptions to their employers due to pumping and places limits on the requirements for employers.

“This section does not require an employer to provide break time if doing so would create an undue hardship on the operations of the employer,” it states.

In 2022, Congress passed the federal PUMP Act to ensure women have break time and a private place other than a bathroom to pump breastmilk at work.

Alabama has no such legislation. In 2021, a bill to give women protections around pumping breastmilk at work failed in the state legislature.

For many Alabama mothers, not feeling like they can pump at work discourages them from breastfeeding altogether, advocates say.

“For a lot of women, they’ll just choose to not breastfeed or they’re not able to,” said Jennifer Harris, Senior Health Policy Expert with Alabama Arise. “They may try to only breastfeed when they’re not working, which is something that is not good for milk supply.”

She said that nursing at regular intervals is what keeps women’s bodies producing milk.

Workers in the fast-food industry and teachers have requested assistance with advocating for the right to pump at work more than any other types of employees, said Gayle Whatley, chair of the Breastfeeding Education Support Team at the Alabama Breastfeeding Committee, in an email to AL.com

Whately said Alabama’s six-month and one-year breastfeeding rates are some of the lowest in the country and have remained at the bottom for years.

“The significant drop has been due to our mothers returning to work without break time to pump or a clean, private place to pump,” she said. Through the years, we have had numerous requests to intercede with employers for those mothers having difficulties.”