Both spaces have deep sinks for cleaning equipment, easily accessible electrical outlets, soft lighting, artwork, comfortable seating and are located in Terminal 1-Lindbergh. One is on Concourse F near Gate F2, the other is on Concourse C across from Gate C13. More rooms are in the works.
To use the room, travelers need to check-in at an information booth and get a volunteer on duty to unlock he door. After the room is used, it gets cleaned and ready for the next mom.
MSP isn’t the only airport to have a nursing room for moms. Burlington International Airport in Vermont installed a self-standing lactation station in August 2013.
As part of its recent reboot, in October of 2014 Dallas Love Field added a nursing room as well.
An increasing number of other airports have rooms set aside for nursing moms. Some are corners of existing rest rooms, others are specific-use. Look on an airport’s website for the locations or ask at an information booth when traveling.
Here’s the stand-alone structure for baby care and nursing moms at the Singapore Changi Airport
Mamava’s Lactation Station on site at Burlington International Airport in Vermont – Courtesy Mamava
A Vermont airport that was once the site of a “nurse-in” protesting the in-flight treatment of a breastfeeding mom is the first U.S. airport to install a dedicated breastfeeding and pumping station.
The freestanding kiosk features easy-to-clean surfaces, a fold-down table, a power outlet and space that can comfortably accommodate seating, a breast pump, luggage and a stroller.
The breastfeeding station was designed by Burlington-based Mamava, a company headed by a working mom who used to take a breast pump with her when she traveled.
“I’d end up using the pump in a public bathroom, but I know women who have had to use breast pumps in cars, storage closets and some very unusual places when they travel,” said Mamava co-founder Sascha Mayer.
Mayer started working on the design for the “Lactation Station” at the request of Gene Richards, Burlington International’s aviation director, who wants the experience for everyone traveling through the airport to be “as relaxing as possible.”
To that end, the airport opened a pre-security lounge for nursing mothers in May.
“We took out a bank of pay phones that had earned maybe $17 the entire previous year,” said Richards. “Even if it’s only used occasionally, the lounge makes the airport more comfortable for moms.”
Mayer expects the new self-contained, post-security Lactation Station — located near a restroom in a space formerly occupied by an ATM and a flat-penny machine — to be popular among nursing moms because there’s usually no place to comfortably use a breast pump on a plane or on a short layover.
“This allows a nursing mother to go through security and use the station to pump shortly before her flight,” said Mayer. “It’s all about solving a problem.”
While there are plans to bring Mamava Lactation Stations to other airports, for now it’s a one-of-a-kind unit being tested at Burlington International. But moms and family travel experts are already rooting for the kiosk’s success.
“It’s not always easy for nursing mothers to find a private and clean place to discreetly breastfeed or use a breast pump. So it would be great to see this catch on at other airports as well as other transportation hubs such as train and bus stations,” said Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, managing editor of MiniTime.com.
Dawn Brahos, a mom from Lowell, Ind., agrees. In April, Brahos went national with her experience of feeling “humiliated” when a flight attendant loudly — and incorrectly — forbid her from plugging in a breast pump on an airplane.
“Maybe more women will pump or breastfeed, or do so a bit longer, if changes like these make it easier for women to make this choice,” she said.
Mamava’s Lactation Station at Burlington International Airport may be the first such unit in the U.S., but Singapore’s Changi Airport already offers stand-alone rooms for nursing mothers. I saw this one while touring the recently upgraded Terminal 1.
Nursing Room for moms at Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 1
(My story about the lactation station at Burlington International Airport first appeared on NBC News Travel in a slightly different version.)
