Baby Bistro offers breast pump rentals, other lactation services for employees

October 18, 2016

101916babybistro640As a nationally designated Baby Friendly Hospital, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women offers many helpful services to patients and employees to support them during their breastfeeding journey.

For Veronika Javor, choosing to exclusively provide breast milk to her babies during their first year of life was an important commitment. To ensure her now 3-year-old daughter, Harper, and 1-year-old son, Lincoln, both born at the Pavilion for Women, continued to receive the nutritional health benefits of being fed her breast milk, she had to overcome several challenges. She credits the supportive environment at Texas Children’s as one reason why she was able to continue pumping when she returned to work.

“Having a place where you can both pump and rent a pump, right where you work, is incredible,” said Javor, a senior public relations specialist at Texas Children’s. “On numerous occasions, I have had busy days with media shoots and meetings at the hospital, and the Baby Bistro has always opened their door to me and allowed me to use one of their lactation rooms to pump between my meetings.”

Conveniently located inside the Bella Luna Boutique on the third floor of the Pavilion for Women, the Baby Bistro offers lactation support services to nursing mothers, including breast pump rentals. Employees pay a monthly rental fee just like everyone else does but they have the opportunity to get reimbursed through Texas Children’s Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance provider.

Under the BCBS plan, Texas Children’s employees can select a single-user breast pump that is mailed directly to them or receive reimbursement for the rental of a hospital grade rental pump. Since the insurance plan does not cover both options, it is important to determine which breast pump is appropriate based on one’s personal preference and breastfeeding needs.

“For moms returning from maternity leave, remembering to pack a breast pump may not always be top of mind,” said Gina Marrinucci, manager of Retail and Concierge Services at the Pavilion for Women. “Our services are here to help them during their pumping journey. Besides the Baby Bistro, employees can also take advantage of several other employee pumping locations throughout the Pavilion for Women and in West Tower to meet their breastfeeding goals.”

In addition to these services, one-on-one consultations with board certified lactation consultants are available at the Baby Bistro to help new mothers learn the breastfeeding basics, how to overcome breastfeeding challenges such as latching issues, and develop strategies to achieve their breastfeeding goals. There is a fee for this service and appointments should be scheduled by calling Baby Bistro at Ext. 6-8881.

“Pumping for your baby is a huge commitment and it’s great to have access to the tools and support to make it easier,” Javor said. “I hear so many mothers facing challenges in the workplace over having to express milk and I am grateful to work for an organization that both values this important job and facilitates the process.”

Texas Children’s commitment to providing lactation support for both patients and employees is one of the many reasons why the Pavilion for Women is a Baby Friendly Hospital. This coveted designation means Texas Children’s is providing the highest level of care related to breastfeeding education, instruction and support to our patients. For a summary of our breastfeeding initiatives, including a link to Baby Friendly USA, read this Connect article.

For a list of employee pumping locations at the Pavilion for Women and West Tower, click here.

For other breastfeeding and lactation support services at the Pavilion for Women, including how to donate excess breast milk to the Mother’s Milk Bank to support critically ill babies in the Newborn Center, click here.