The United States remains the only high-income country in the world that does not offer paid family leave, forcing many new mothers to return to work shortly after giving birth. This has led to the widespread practice of pumping breast milk in the workplace. A new book, Milk Factory, makes the unseen labor inside America's lactation rooms visible through a series of stark photographs.
The Lactation Room Experience
Lactation rooms underscore the demands for productivity, along with cultural expectations to love and care for a child. The photographs range from bright and cozy to starkly depressing, exposing the sometimes grim reality of being a new mother in the US.
Personal Stories
One musician shared, 'After my daughter was born, breastfeeding felt like one thing my body did right. Like many Americans, I saw parenthood as a matter of personal and private responsibility.' An administrative associate at an opera house described rushing from her classroom across the street to another building for the mandated lactation room, often struggling to get the oversized key from guards unaware of its existence.
A building manager noted the room was surprisingly large with barren bookshelves and fake trees, where she pumped while video chatting with her mother. A magazine creative director explained that pumping seemed a more accurate reflection of parenthood in a late-capitalist society that values productivity over health.
Challenges and Stigma
A legal scholar recounted waking at dawn to pump before commuting, and sometimes pumping on the train covered with a scarf, realizing she was protecting others from what they didn't want to see. A bartender described pumping in disabled bathrooms or coat closets, facing questions from customers about her breaks.
Broader Implications
Corinne May Botz, the photographer, noted that the act of pumping highlights the ongoing negotiation between connection and autonomy in motherhood. The project feels socially relevant as women are not guaranteed bodily autonomy, pregnancy-related deaths rise, and parental stress is a public health crisis.
Milk Factory by Corinne May Botz is available from Saint Lucy Books.
