- ActiveCampaign is offering breast milk delivery services as a benefit for its working moms.
- An officer Jenni Weinacht said they want to help moms transition back into work without the guilt.
- Milk Stork offers global shipping of fresh or frozen breast milk where it needs to go.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively and continually breastfed during their first six months. However, the US is the only member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that hasn't implemented national, statutory paid maternity, paternity, or parental leave.
According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, 60% of mothers do not breastfeed for as long as they originally intended, for reasons including "unsupportive work policies and lack of parental leave."
ActiveCampaign, which provides cloud-based marketing and sales automation software, wants to play its part in boosting breastfeeding rates by helping the new mothers among its staff.
The company has partnered with breast milk delivery startup Milk Stork to allow mothers to continue giving breast milk to their infants while continuing with their careers.
Milk Stork caters to working mothers who breastfeed their children but whose work involves travelling. The partnership will offer ActiveCampaign a discount between 15% and 20%, depending on the shipping cost, and the company will cover all costs for its employees who wish to use the service.
ActiveCampaign's chief people officer Michael Rico told Insider that the idea of partnering with Milk Stork came after the company suggested its employees use Milk Stork's services.
"I wanted to work with our head of benefits to turn this suggestion into a benefit that we offer our employees, and this is the first part of our journey, which is helping to have milk ready for your baby at any point," Rico said.
Milk Stork was funded by mother-of-three Kate Torgerson, who'd had enough of the lack of support for breastfeeding. She said that working moms faced enough tradeoffs and compromises, and shouldn't have to compromise on providing "our babies with the best possible nutrition — breast milk."
"Having a baby is one of the most monumental and dramatic transitions a person will experience in their lifetime," she told Insider.
"Career-wise, they know where they want to go, have established their reputation, and developed expertise – they are well-positioned to set their sights on bigger opportunities and take some big swings."
Torgerson said she faced the same conundrum that many breastfeeding mothers today have to weigh.
"Do I take this business trip to further my career opportunities at the risk of losing my hard-earned breastfeeding relationship and not feeding my child(ren)? Or, do I continue to breastfeed my child and miss out on this career opportunity?" she said.
Jenni Weinacht, who oversees the accounting team at ActiveCampaign and a mom, told Insider that she wished she had the same opportunities young mothers working at the firm will now have.
Weinacht said: "This benefit is going to be huge for our moms, because when I went through that point of child-raising, that was very important to me."
Aware that the breast milk delivery service may spark questions surrounding the pressure of having to come back to work prematurely, Weinacht added: "We want them to take the full leave and then come back and help them with the transition."
At ActiveCampaign, 44% of the workforce identify as women, including 40% of its senior leadership. A total of 176 parents are working in their US office.
As a result, the company is keen to ensure that its staff feel supported when they have children, particularly moms, Weinacht said. "On top of offering the milk delivery service, employees also benefit from 16 weeks of parental leave," she added.
Rico said the firm will try to remove any obstacles to combining parenting and work where it can.
"When a mother chooses breastfeeding as a primary source of nutrition for their baby, offering this service will take away the difficult choice and guilt they may feel by returning to work," Rico added.
Weinacht added: "Now that we have employees across the country, and the globe, travel will increase and this benefit will be utilized even more."
Milk Stork is working with 840 companies of varying sizes, including firms Twilio, Salesforce, SAP, and Bausch Health.
She said, that when companies offer breastfeeding benefits, it sends the message: "I see and value your experiences as working mothers, and I am here to support you."