The University of Idaho Women’s Center has become the sixth location on UI’s campus to offer a lactation room, which is a private room used for nursing mothers to breast pump.
While the Women’s Centers room has a dual-purpose as a lactation and advocacy room, it serves as a private room for families to take care of their children. It also serves as a confidential space for advocacy victims to have private conversations.
A baby changing station, mini fridge and toys are some of the items included inside the new lactation and advocacy room. The changing station is stocked with diapers and wipes that were donated by a student group who participated in a diaper drive, and the mini fridge can be used for lactation needs.
The Director of the Women’s Center, Lysa Salsbury, said services like this tell students with children they are welcome and belong at the university. It also tells students that the Women’s Center cares about their success and will provide them with the resources they need.
Briana Navarro, events and programming assistant for the Women’s Center, is aware of the community usage of the room.
“It is helpful for people who come to events,” Navarro said. “A lot of community members attend our events, and it’s a good thing to have that private space for the community.”
The lactation and advocacy room was created to fill an unoccupied space after the Women’s Center lost a staff position in October, Salsbury said.
Previously, the Women’s Center used a conference room as a multi-purpose space, which made it difficult for those who needed a private space, Salsbury said.
With this new space available, individuals can request to reserve the room or use it on a first come, first serve basis. Salsbury said the rooms are usually used for about 15 minutes and are open to all individuals and their children.
“The university should be really proud that we now have several fully equipped lactation rooms on campus,” Salsbury said. “That wasn’t the case just a few years ago, so it’s wonderful that we got those spaces.”
The dual-purpose of the space allows for the Women’s Center to not only use the space as lactation room but an advocacy room.
With the Women’s Center being a confidential reporting location since 2015, people can visit and privately discuss trauma without it being reported, Salsbury said.
In order to provide a safe space for advocacy victims, there is a white noise maker inside the room that helps create a comfortable environment for individuals disclosing private information.
“Because we have this confidentiality status, we have to have a private space where people can tell us what’s going on,” Salsbury said. “This is an ideal room to use because it is at the end of the hallway, and it provides access to a more private space.”
Evelyn Avitia can be reached at [email protected]