On Services: Nursing Mothers Find Privacy and Resources Nearby Wyman Park Is Latest Location For Mothers' Room Nursing mothers who work on the Homewood campus now have a convenient and private place to pump their breast milk for later feedings, thanks to an initiative sponsored in part by the Wellness Clinic of the Office of Occupational Health and Safety. The Mothers' Room--located on the sixth floor of the Wyman Park building--joins two similar spaces previously established on the East Baltimore campus. Free and available for all Hopkins female staff and faculty, the rooms offer hospital-grade electric breast pumps, which accommodate double-pump arrangements to facilitate speedy pumping. According to Judy Vogelhut, nurse coordinator of the Hopkins Breastfeeding Center and one of the original advocates of the Mothers' Room concept at Hopkins, the pumps allow most lactating women to spend about 15 minutes either once or twice daily, obtaining milk that is then refrigerated or frozen until needed. "What we had prior to this was a group of women who wanted and needed to come back to work, but who were put in a position of having to choose between that and supplying their children with milk," she said. "However, human milk can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours and frozen for up to three months. Having a Mothers' Room allows many women to both work and breastfeed their baby." The Johns Hopkins Breastfeeding Center established and now maintains the first Hopkins Mothers' Room, located on the third floor of the Blalock Building on the East Baltimore campus. That room--gaily festooned with dozens of photographs of the children whose mothers use the facility--has been used by more than 100 mothers since it opened four years ago, Vogelhut said. A second room opened recently in the basement of the School of Public Health. "The rooms are more than a place for privacy, they've become a resource for our mothers," Vogelhut said. "Each room has a communications book where people leave messages for each other, and in East Baltimore, they have had an annual Christmas party and monthly luncheon meetings at the back table of the hospital's cafeteria." The nursing mothers have nicknamed the informal monthly get-togethers the Bosom Buddies' Lunch. Mothers on the East Baltimore campus can find information about the Mothers' Room by calling (410) 550-5471. On the Homewood campus, call (410) 516-0451.