Lactation Support
Providing a family-friendly environment for faculty, staff and students is important at Northwestern. To support faculty, staff, and students who are nursing, the Office of Human Resources provides the following lactation support resources:
- Lactation room locations
Dedicated lactation rooms are available on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses. Learn how to register for and access them. - Break time for lactation
The University is required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide “reasonable break time” for an employee to express breast milk for their nursing child. The requirement applies for one year after the child’s birth. - Hosting a lactation room
If your school or department is interested in hosting a lactation room in one of your buildings, please view the guidelines for hosting a lactation room. - Know Your Rights
Understand the federal protections for pregnant and lactating workers. Information on additional support for accommodations and managers also available.
Register and access lactation rooms
All lactation room users must register with Work/Life & Family Resources in Human Resources in order to access your specified room using your iClass WildCard and reserve time via electronic scheduling calendars. We recommend you register as early as possible, at least 72 hours in advance.
Register your iClass WildCard:
- Decide which lactation room is most convenient to your location by visiting Room Locations.
- Complete the Campus Lactation Space Access form.
- Access is granted on a 12 month basis. If you need access longer than 12 months, contact lactation@northwestern.edu.
- You are welcome to use supplies and are expected to maintain the cleanliness of the room after use.
Gain access to Outlook scheduling calendars
- Reservations for lactations rooms are made through the Outlook calendaring system.
- Upon receiving receiving access to your requested lactation space(s), you will also be provided with access to the Outlook scheduling calendars.
- Once access is granted, you may make reservations. You are asked to respect the needs of others by using the room only when you have reserved it through the calendaring system.
- Students that do not have access to the Outlook calendaring system will need to request an Exchange Account in order to make reservations; requests can be made to lactation@northwestern.edu.