Mothers Post Support in PIT Nursing Lounge
Strangers connect over shared struggles, bonds of motherhood in nursing room
By Ellen Saksen & Elise Gomez
Published August 16, 2021
Read Time: 4 mins
There are travelers for whom grabbing a flight is second nature, those for whom flying is a necessary evil, and then there’s everyone in between.
Talk to any new mom, though, and you’ll soon learn that whatever your feelings about travel, most of us have it easy compared to those who have to nurse a baby or pump breastmilk while in transit.
That’s why Pittsburgh International Airport and many other airports have created quiet, private places in the terminal dedicated to nursing moms.
“Breastfeeding and pumping in public is daunting,” said Samantha Stedford, Director of Customer Experience at PIT.
The airport’s well-appointed lounge opened in the Airside Terminal’s Concourse C in May 2015. But what officials didn’t know at the time was that they were also creating a community of strangers who share a profound bond.
Rainbow of Post-It notes
At PIT, those women have turned a lactation space into a safe haven all their own.
Since early 2020, moms using the Mothers’ Nursing Lounge have written encouraging messages on Post-It notes to shepherd each other through the challenging logistics and emotion of nursing or pumping away from home.
“We’ve seen similar notes of affirmation in restrooms used by women and gender-diverse people on local college campuses,” said Dr. Jessie B. Ramey, director of the Women’s Institute at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.
“In some ways, these notes of mutual support reflect older patterns of anonymous messages, especially bathroom graffiti, but are nearly always positive, and often meant as an intentional small kindness to lift the spirits of a stranger.”
Heartwarming notes on emotions, gear, logistics, and just a lot of “atta girls” can be found all over the walls of the lounge in a rainbow of colored squares:
“Thanks, mamas—these notes help as I leave my baby for the first time. For anyone having a tough day—YOU GOT THIS!”
“Your baby is proud of you—and so am I!”
“You are a GREAT mom doing a HARD JOB, and you should be really proud of yourself!!!”
While there is a logbook in the room for visitors, there are no Post-It pads. It’s likely the airport will never know who posted the first message, although it’s clear she had a sticky notepad handy.
Her idea has helped countless women adapt to the rigors of traveling while nursing.
“Breastfeeding has been one of the most rewarding aspects of motherhood, but it can also be very challenging, especially when traveling,” said Haley Noonan, of Greensburg, Pa. “The Mothers’ Nursing Lounge at PIT was a lifesaver during our vacation.
“As a mom to a nursing toddler, the lounge provided me with the needed privacy to feed my child comfortably,” she added. “I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the inspirational notes providing mothers with encouragement, which is always needed.”
Building a safe space
In 2018, the Friendly Airports for Mothers Act required all medium and large airports to provide private, non-bathroom lactation spaces in each post-security terminal building by 2021. The law was updated in 2020 to include small airports, with a deadline of 2023.
With a second nursing lounge for airport employees in the Landside Terminal, PIT has also made accommodating nursing mothers on staff a p