A number of lactation and breastfeeding spaces for the use of student and staff parents are in the process of being established in College.
While the project is still in the early stages of development, the Equality Office is currently in the process of finding suitable spaces for student parents. A room in the School of Nursing and Midwifery building on D’Olier Street has been identified as a potential space and is likely to be available shortly.
While there are creche and day nursery facilities currently available on campus, there are no spaces available for breastfeeding mothers to lactate.
In an email statement to The University Times, Aoife Crawford, the College Equality Officer, said: “Providing supports for breastfeeding / lactating students and staff is a high priority for the Director of Diversity and Inclusion and the Equality Office”. She added: “We hope to be in a position to publicise the availability of these facilities to staff and students as soon as they come on stream.”
The College policy on “Supports for Student Parents, Student Carers and Students Experiencing Pregnancy” from 2013 states that “there should be no academic or financial penalty for a student taking maternity, paternity, adoptive, or carer’s leave” and that College should “facilitate students in returning to their studies at the point they left rather than having to repeat the whole year”.
Speaking to The University Times, the Gender Equality Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, Louise Mulrennan, welcomed the introduction of the lactation space, emphasising that for “a university that purports to support gender equality, there are physical, institutional means that do level the playing field as far as practical in promoting gender equality”.
Mulrennan added that it will now mean students who do not want to “choose between academia and motherhood will be able to begin, or at least continue, their education” and it “sends a message that Trinity College supports positive and sustainable breastfeeding experiences” on campus.
A respite room has recently been opened in the Arts Block by the Disability Service, which may also be used as a lactation room. However, this space is only available upon booking and is currently still on a trial basis. The Equality Office hope to release further detail about more potential lactation spaces on-campus in the coming months.
