Sojourner Marable Grimmett and Monica L. Ponder are co-founders of Table for Two (TFT), Incorporated, a community organization that seeks to establish public lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers. With its grassroots and real-world approach to building global breastfeeding acceptance, the signature TFT campaign asks the important question, "You wouldn't eat in the bathroom, so why would you expect a baby to?" In public locations locally and broadly, lactating mothers are asked to feed their children in the restroom or to call in advance of their travel plans to arrange a private room to pump or breastfeed. All breastfeeding mothers deserve safe, secure, and comfortable places to pump and nurse. Table for Two seeks to build awareness so that this basic human right will become a reality. The TFT campaign is a resource for anyone looking to build lactation rooms in their community and workplaces. For more information, please visit www.supporttablefortwo.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/supporttablefortwo, and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lactationrooms. Sojourner Marable Grimmett, MA Email: SojournerGrimmett@gmail.com Web: http://sojournermarablegrimmett.blogspot.com Monica L. Ponder, MS, MSPH Email: mlp@mlpcommunications.com Web: www.mlpcommunications.com

1. Sojourner Marable Grimmett, MA
Monica Lindsey Ponder, MS, MSPH
Co-founders,
Table for Two Foundation, Inc.

2. Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):
• TFT is a community organization that seeks to establish
public lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.
• We provide grassroots and real-world approaches to
building global breastfeeding acceptance.
• The signature TFT campaign asks the important
question, "You wouldn't eat in the bathroom, so why
would you expect a baby to?"

3. Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):
In public locations locally and broadly, lactating mothers are
asked to feed their children in the restroom or to call in
advance of their travel plans to arrange a private room to
pump or breastfeed.
All breastfeeding mothers deserve safe, secure, and
comfortable places to pump and nurse.
Table for Two seeks to build awareness so that this basic
human right will become a reality. The TFT campaign is a
resource for anyone looking to build lactation rooms in their
community and workplaces.

4. Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

5. Table For Two Foundation, Inc. (TFT):

6. History
• Over the last several decades, there have been major
changes in the United States in how families address
the issue of women working outside the home.
• Fifty years ago, the majority of American women did
not work outside the home. However, two wars played
a major role in the labor workforce: World War II and
the Vietnam War.
• After the war, most of these women returned to their
previous roles as wives and homemakers, although a
significant minority remained in the workforce.
• With the emergence of the women’s rights movement
of the 1960s, women began to demand equal
opportunity for employment and better wages.

7. Motherhood and the Workplace
A couple years ago, I interviewed
working mothers in higher education
to find out how they balance work and
motherhood. Common themes
emerged from the interviews:
• Torn with how to balance work and
motherhood
• Frustrated with the lack of work
policies to support mothers
• Guilt
• Extremely grateful for and
expressive about the importance of
family support
“Working Moms: Finding a Balance. Between Work and Motherhood,” Chapter 1 was first published in
the SACRAO Journal, volume 23, pp. 5-10. (2001)

8. Motherhood and the Workplace
According to Mason and Ekman:
• Most women who choose to have
a career and family are forced to
modify the pace at which they are
able to move up the professional
ladder.
***
―Women adopt various strategies to
successfully combine family and
employment obligations. One is to
postpone childbearing and to have
smaller families. Another adaptation
is women’s choices of part-time or
gender-segregated jobs that are
supposedly easy to enter, leave and
reenter.‖ (Spain & Bianchi, 1996)
“Working Moms: Finding a Balance. Between Work and Motherhood,”
Chapter 1 was first published in the SACRAO Journal, volume 23, pp. 5-10.

9. Motherhood and the Workplace
• There is a constant struggle between family-friendly
pursuits that support family and children and the
yearning women have to pursue professional
careers. In some situations, employers respect the
need; in others, they don’t.
• Ann Crittenden (2001) in The Price of Motherhood
states: ―A mother’s work is not just invisible; it can
become a handicap. Raising children may be the
most important job in the world, but you can’t put it
on a résumé‖ (p. 3).
• The achievement of success for most women is
having a profession, healthy and positive families,
and supporting the development of one’s children.
Sojourner Marable
Grimmett

10. Facts
82.8 million
Estimated number of moms in the US and roughly 61% of
moms work.
Modern Moms
Average 2 Kids (1950s: 3.3 Kids, 1700s: 7-10 Kids).
First-time Moms
Average age of new moms is 25 (vs. 21 in 1970).
7 out of 10
Moms are in the labor force, compared with 5 out of 10 in
1950.

11. Facts
4 out of 10
Moms who work full time perform volunteer work at some point
during the year.
Several reasons why women return to work:
• Families dependent on two incomes.
• Being the primary breadwinner for their children.
• Women want to work outside the home because they desire to
achieve through professional careers of their own.
Breastfeeding during the first 12 months of an infant’s life has
been shown to provide tremendous health benefits for the
child, even long-term.
The decision to return to work can sometimes conflict
with a mother’s breastfeeding goals.
Source: Utgoff, K. (2005, May). Labor Market Data. Speech presented before Joint Economic Committee for United States
Congress: Washington, D.C.

12. Breastfeeding in the Workplace
• Women have lobbied for years to establish lactation
rooms in their places of employment and public
facilities.
• Only recently have states begun to pass laws that help
ensure that mothers have a private place to nurse their
children.
2 Major Challenges
• I believe there are a lot of women who want to continue
breastfeeding when they return back to work from maternity
leave, but decide to stop nursing because there is no place for
them to pump at work.
• However, I also feel that having a compassionate and
supportive supervisor can make a world of difference for nursing
moms and can support "Breast Time.”

13. Breastfeeding in the Workplace
• Unfortunately, many mothers stop breastfeeding
prematurely due to the inconvenience and lack of privacy
• The painful reality of allowing breast milk to ―dry up‖
when women are not ready to stop nursing can cause
tremendous grief, depression, and disappointment for
mothers anxious to provide the most important nutrients
to their newborn.
• If you are interested in breastfeeding and don’t have a
lactation room at your job, then speak up and request that
a private room be established.
• Table for Two, Incorporated was created to foster the
establishment of public lactation rooms for breastfeeding
mothers
Sojourner Marable
Grimmett

14. Background: My Journey
• Prior to our first son’s birth I was a workaholic. I worked
more than 10-hour days and responded to work-related e-
mails on the weekends. My life was my job; and work came
first. I skipped family functions and sorority meetings to
perform work related tasks. I sacrificed my personal and
social life to advance my professional career.
• I had fears of returning to work—fears of not being able to
juggle my new life and fears that my supervisor and co-
workers would not understand my struggle to maintain a
happy medium. And, although, I am an extremely good
multitasker, having the responsibility of taking care of
another human being is a huge deal. Sleep deprivation,
diaper changes, dressed in burping clothes, and pacing up
and down the same hallway ruled my whole universe. I was a
changed woman.
Sojourner Marable
Grimmett

15. Balancing a Professional Career and Motherhood
Maternity leave gave me time to collect my thoughts and prioritize my life.
Before returning back to work (from maternity leave with our oldest son), I
decided to modify my work schedule in this manner:
• Asked my supervisor if I could change my
work hours to 8 am – 5 pm, in order to
pick up our son from daycare
• Found a daycare facility where I could
monitor our child online
• Made a firm commitment to leave work on
time every day
• With our second child, I helped establish
a lactation room on campus, in order for
moms to have a safe place to pump and
maintain their milk supply
Sojourner Marable
Grimmett Now I advocate for other working mothers!

16. How can you Support TFT?
Take action today to help • Like our Facebook page
establish lactation rooms in • Follow us on Twitter
public places! @LactationRooms
#LactationRooms
• Share your comments on our
YouTube video
• Share our campaign with others
• Recommend a company to TFT
(Breastfeeding friendly or not)
Current project: Send an email to HJAIA encouraging them to establish lactation
rooms at: http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Airport/ATL/contact_information.aspx

17. Sojourner Marable
Grimmett talks
about the goal and
efforts of her
Public Square
Atlanta group,
"Establish
Lactation Rooms
at Atlanta's
Airport," as well as
what she sees as
the benefits to both
the public and
airport in providing
dedicated spaces
for nursing
mothers.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BW1jUAhMHk

18. www.supporttablefortwo.org

19. www.facebook.com/supporttablefortwo

20. Helpful Publications and Resources
Ellison, S. (2001). The Courage to Be a Single Mother: Becoming
Whole Again After Divorce. New York: HarperCollins.
Gentile, M. C. (1996). Managerial Excellence Through Diversity: Text
& Cases. Illinois: Waverly Press.
Kunhardt, J., Spiegel, L. & Kunhardt, S. (2004). Intimate Dialogue on
Becoming a Mother. New York: The Soho Parenting Center.
Orenstein, P. (2000) Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids & Life in
a Half-Changed World. New York: Anchor Books.
Sachs, W. (2005) How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful
Stay-At-Work Moms. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Warren, E. and Tyagi, A. (2003) The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle
Class Parents Are Going Broke. New York: Basic Books.
Sojourner Marable
Grimmett

21. Thank you! Thank you!
Please feel free to email us!
Sojourner Marable Grimmett, MA
Email: SojournerGrimmett@gmail.com
Web: http://sojournermarablegrimmett.blogspot.com
Phone: 404.783.3522
Monica Lindsey Ponder, MS, MSPH
Email: mlp@mlpcommunications.com
Web: www.mlpcommunications.com
Phone: 404.593.5597
For more information, please visit www.supporttablefortwo.org,
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/supporttablefortwo, and
on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lactationrooms.