Breastfeeding Support Is Public Health Infrastructure
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
A more family-friendly Ohio starts with infant care access.
By Paige Sunnenberg, Co-Founder of The Nursing Nest
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August is National Breastfeeding Month, and Black Breastfeeding Week is observed from August 25 through August 31. The 2026 theme, RISE, stands for Resilience, Interdependence, Self-Determination, and Empowerment (U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, n.d.). Each of these words strikes a chord with me when thinking of my own and many other women’s breastfeeding journey. It takes each word in this acronym to have a successful breastfeeding journey, but the one that stands out to me is Interdependence. Breastfeeding is a personal decision, but a mother’s ability to continue often depends on the support, policies, and spaces around her.
After becoming a mother, I started seeing community events differently because I noticed when there was no dedicated place to breastfeed or clean surface to change a diaper. I realized how often a parent may have to choose between staying at an event and meeting their baby’s needs comfortably with dignity.
That experience became the foundation for The Nursing Nest. We provide staffed infant care areas at events where families can feed, pump, change diapers, and soothe their babies without having to leave. Our team does more than provide the physical space. We staff and operate the area to keep the space clean and provide support to families. We reduce the burden on event organizers to create and manage infant care access spaces. Our work addresses a practical accessibility gap by bringing the infrastructure and the service. We help events support families while also making it easier for families with infants to remain part of the places where community happens.
Breastfeeding Support Is Structural
Breastfeeding recommendations are clear but following them requires support around the family or interdependence. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for about six months, followed by continued breastfeeding with complementary foods for two years or beyond when mutually desired. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in Ohio, 84.2% of infants born in 2022 were breastfed, while 59.8% were receiving breast milk at six months. That drop represents families trying to continue breastfeeding while life outside the home keeps moving.
Many mothers stop breastfeeding sooner than they planned. Research published in Pediatrics found that about 60% of mothers who stopped breastfeeding did so earlier than they wanted to. A mother’s ability to continue can be shaped by lactation challenges, work, and the support around her. Public spaces are part of that environment because families do not stop needing to feed or care for their babies when they leave home.
Policy already recognizes some of these needs. Ohio law protects a mother’s right to breastfeed in places of public accommodation, while federal law gives nursing employees break time and a private space other than a bathroom to pump at work. Those protections do not answer a question many parents still face at community events: “Where can I care for my baby once I get there?”
What Families Are Saying
Our first season is giving us a clearer picture of that question. As of August 15, 2026, The Nursing Nest had served 6 events and recorded 123 caregiver encounters. Families used the space 167 times for specific care needs, including breastfeeding, bottle feeding, pumping, diaper changes, and quiet time. Infant care access is not about one feeding choice. It is about giving families a place to meet babies’ needs without leaving the event.
Caregiver feedback shows how that access can change the experience. All 22 caregivers who completed our survey said The Nursing Nest helped them feel more comfortable participating, and all said they were very likely to use the service again. Across their responses, every caregiver indicated reduced stress or overwhelm. 17 said they would not have stayed as long without The Nursing Nest, 5 were unsure. No respondent said they would have stayed at the event as long without The Nursing Nest. Caregivers asked for “more places like this,” “this in all events” and better advance notice.
This feedback is already showing us that accessibility includes both providing support and making it visible enough for families to plan around it.
Where This Can Go Next
Serving families at local events has helped us see how this model can grow. We are working toward a mobile infant care unit that could provide a more consistent, weather-protected space at events. We also plan to expand into music festivals through a separate program focused on maternal accessibility. Mothers who attend these events without their babies have different needs from families attending an event with an infant.
For us, growth is not only about attending more events. It is about learning where the accessibility gaps are and building practical solutions that can become part of event planning. The more that communities consider maternal and infant care from the beginning, the less families are left to figure out on their own once they arrive.
What a More Family-Friendly Ohio Could Look Like
National Breastfeeding Month is a good time to move the conversation from encouragement to access. Local governments and public agencies can consider infant care when they plan or fund community events. Event guidance can prompt organizers to identify where families can feed, change, or soothe a baby. Event maps and advance communication can then help families know what support will be available before they arrive.
Funders and sponsors can help make those services possible. Support for staffed care areas, mobile infrastructure, and pilot programs can help communities learn what families use and what different events need. There does not need to be one model for every setting. A neighborhood festival will look different from a county fair or a music festival, but families can still be considered in each of them.
That conversation also must include equity. Black Breastfeeding Week was created to draw attention to the experiences and barriers Black families face in breastfeeding. According to the CDC, among infants born in 2023, 79.4% of non-Hispanic Black infants were breastfed compared with 88.2% of non-Hispanic White infants. Public event access is only one part of a much larger system, but it is one place where communities can remove a practical barrier instead of adding another one.
National Breastfeeding Month should be more than a reminder that breastfeeding is beneficial. The 2026 RISE theme brings attention to the policy, systems, and environmental changes needed to create a landscape of breastfeeding support. For me, that brings us back to Interdependence; families are doing the work of caring for their babies, but communities can make that work accessible by designing public spaces that include them. Families shouldn’t have to choose between caring for their baby and participating in their community. A more family-friendly Ohio is one where they can do both.
Paige Sunnenberg is the Co-Founder of The Nursing Nest, an Ohio 501(c)(3) nonprofit expanding maternal and infant care access in public and community spaces across Central Ohio. Through staffed infant care areas, The Nursing Nest reduces practical barriers and helps families stay connected to community life.
Learn more at thenursingnest.org or follow The Nursing Nest on social media at @thenursingnestorg.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, July 7). Child Breastfeeding Rates by State: 2022. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026, July 31). About Breastfeeding Data. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding-data/about/index.html
Meek, J. Y., Noble, L. (2022). Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use Of Human Milk. Pediatrics, Volume 150, Issue 1
Odom, E. C., Li, R., Scanlon, K. S., Perrine, C. G., & Grummer-Strawn, L. M. (2013). Reasons For Earlier Than Desired Cessation Of Breastfeeding. Pediatrics, Volume 131, Issue 3
Ohio Rev. Code 3781.55. (2005). Breast-Feeding in Places of Public Accommodation. https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3781.55
The Nursing Nest. (n.d.). Our Impact. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://www.thenursingnest.org/impact
The Nursing Nest. (2026). Event Feedback Survey [Unpublished Raw Data].
U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. (n.d.). National Breastfeeding Month. https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/national-breastfeeding-month.html
U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). FLSA Protections to Pump at Work. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pump-at-work
