Lactation educators here say the rate of breast-feeding is on the rise, and expect that trend to continue as awareness grows and as more employers make accommodations for lactating employees to comply with new federal rules that are part of the health-care reform act.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, most employers with more than 50 employees are required to provide a space other than a restroom for breast-feeding mothers to express milk and store it at work, says Kristine Brewer, of the Spokane Regional Health District.

Hospitals and health organizations are leading the way toward compliance with those new rules, says Emily Fleury, director of the Health Training Network at Community Health Education & Resources (CHER), a unit of Spokane-based Inland Northwest Health Services.

INHS has set aside two rooms with rocking chairs and soft lighting, in which a mother can express breast milk in private and store it in refrigerators there, at the big nonprofit's offices in the Wells Fargo Financial Center downtown.

Spokane Regional Health District also is setting up a lactation room for its employees—complete with breast pumps and a refrigerator for storing milk—and is encouraging businesses to follow its example, says Brewer, the district's representative on the Spokane County Breastfeeding Coalition.

New mothers employed by the health district also will be allowed to breast-feed their infants at work until they are 6 months old, Brewer says.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers breast-feed infants exclusively from birth until they are 6 months old, and continue to breast-feed babies as they learn to eat solid foods until they are at least a year old.

Breast-feeding provides good nutrition for infants, helps fight infections, and has potential health benefits for mothers, the academy says.

The Centers for Disease Control says 75 percent of new mothers nationwide initiate breast-feeding and only 13 percent exclusively breast-feed their babies for the first six months. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a goal of increasing the rate of new mothers' initiating breast-feeding to 82 percent by 2020, and to boost the rate of exclusive breast-feeding at six months to 24 percent.

Hospitals and health-care agencies here offer several programs and services that support breast-feeding.

Valley Hospital & Medical Center here believes relatively new lactation services it's providing are a contributor to the finding that 95 percent of mothers who give birth there are breast-feeding when they leave the hospital, says Christine Lloyd, one of two lactation consultants at the hospital.

"Overall, the rate here is going up, but we're not yet at that six-month exclusivity goal," Lloyd says.

Valley Hospital started its own lactation consulting services in 2009, taking over services that earlier had been provided by appointment there through consultants from Deaconess Medical Center.

Since then, Valley Hospital has seen a sharp increase in requests for lactation consultations, Lloyd says. Last year, that service provided 328 consultations, up from 47 in 2008, she says.

Proper breast-feeding doesn't always happen by instinct, Lloyd says.

"A lot of people are under the impression that it's natural, but a new mom has never done it and the baby from the womb has never done it," she says. "It's like ballroom dancing. You learn it together."

Without support, new mothers tend to stop breast-feeding if they encounter pain or milk-supply issues, Lloyd says. Those problems often can be addressed through education, she says.

"Moms get intensive teaching and help here that contributes to later success in breast-feeding," Lloyd says.

Last May, the hospital started a support group called the Mommy & Me Club, which aims to increase awareness of the importance of breast-feeding. It also provides social interaction and education programs for new moms and their babies up to 2 years old.

Lloyd says 15 to 20 mothers typically attend the free weekly meetings, and the hospital is considering expanding the program to a second day so more mothers and babies can join.

The meetings include weight checks that help indicate whether a child is feeding sufficiently, she says.

"Working moms come in when they're on maternity leave," Lloyd says. "A lot of women are isolated and this is the only way for them to go out and meet other mothers."

While information and advice provided through the Mommy & Me Club is free, the hospital charges fees for private lactation consultations. Such fees, which range from $126 to $159, often are covered under insurance programs, Lloyd says.

"We're trying to change the culture," she says. "A lot of moms weren't breast-fed by their own mothers. It's a new experience for many moms. They feel like they don't know what they're doing."

Jackie Basset, director of labor and delivery at Valley Hospital, says breast milk is a living fluid that transfers immunities from the mother to the baby.

"We're learning more about breast milk," she says. "Every mother's milk is perfect for the baby. It adapts to the age of the baby."

CHER's Fleury says studies show that children who have been breast-fed have lower health-care costs as they grow up. Breast-feeding also helps the mother's uterus contract to its normal shape and function, she says.

"Breast-feeding not only helps the body go back to where it wants to be after having a baby, it's linked to reduced rates of breast cancer," she says.

CHER offers breast-feeding information and encourages breast-feeding in all of its parenting classes, Fleury says. It also offers a one-night course each month called Breast-feeding Basics that covers proper positioning, feeding times, breast care, milk storage, and returning to the workplace or school. The fee for the course is $25 for the mother and a support partner.

"We want to help initiate breast-feeding and encourage mothers to continue to breast-feed," Fleury says. About 25 moms have attended recent courses, she says, adding, "It's been going up the last couple of years."

The trend also is apparent at INHS's own workplace, she says.

"We have three moms in my department using a room," Fleury says. "When I look at the reservation sheet, it's full a lot of days."

St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute here, another INHS division, also provides lactation accommodations for employees, Fleury says.

Deaconess has two lactation consultants who visit with new mothers there on request and answer hundreds of phone calls a month from mothers who are experiencing breast-feeding problems, says Julie Holland, a Deaconess spokeswoman.

The consultants also will see mothers as outpatients upon physician referral, Holland says.

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital has a lactation support team that helps ensure that more than 95 percent of new mothers are breast-feeding when they leave the hospital, says Sherry Maughan, Sacred Heart's director of Women's & Children's Services.

"We spend time with families to make sure they know the benefits of breast-feeding," Maughan says.

At Providence Holy Family Hospital, one nurse supports the obstetrics unit, and the Sacred Heart team handles many referrals from there, she says. The two affiliated hospitals also provide lactation rooms and breast pumps for breast-feeding women who work there, she says.

Valley Hospital's Bassett says she realizes that not every mother will be able to breast-feed.

"We also try to look at what's best for the mom," Basset says. "We'll help any mom who wants to breast-feed go in that direction. If it doesn't work it's OK. We tell them, 'Just love the baby.'"