Maintaining Interest

Ongoing promotion of the lactation support program (LSP) is important to long-term success. As time goes by, employees come and go within an organization; however, the need for periodic promotion is especially important for LSPs because employees will move into and out of the need for the program. Ideas or considerations for ongoing promotion of the project include:

• Promotional Method
• Communication Issues
• Making Improvements Based on Lessons Learned
• Policy Compliance and Monitoring

Promotional Method

• Work with human resources to try and identify employees who might have need of this program.
• Consider making an informational flyer about the LSP a standard element of the information employees receive when requesting maternity leave, Family and Medicatl Leave Act (FMLA), disability, unpaid leave, flextime, or other work time accommodations appropriate to pregnant and new mothers in your work site.
• Consider quarterly program promotions though email, employee newsletters, pay stub inserts, and other means appropriate to your work site.
• Consider asking employees who are using the program, or who have used the program, to help you promote the program. This can be done formally through lunch-and-learns or other gatherings, as well as informally by simply reminding employees to mention to coworkers that they used the program and how to find out more about it.

Communication Issues

• Develop clear communication channels for program participants to use to provide feedback on the program. This can include everything from reporting maintenance issues with the lactation rooms to suggestions for improving program use.

Making Improvements Based on Lessons Learned

• Build into the program a designated time for appraising progress and modifying the LSP if needed.

Policy Compliance and Monitoring

• Make monitoring and maintaining the program a designated element of someone’s job description.
• Document usage of the program at every step.

Next Steps

After your LSP has been operating successfully for a few months, begin a more formal evaluation of the LSP and implement improvements.

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