Christina Milliner and her baby (ACLU photo)
Christina Milliner and her baby (ACLU photo)
The American Civil Liberties Union has convinced the Ingham County Jail outside of Lansing to accommodate a breastfeeding mother, an agreement that came after authorities there refused to let her bring a breastfeeding pump into the jail.
"After receiving a letter from the ACLU of Michigan asking for legally appropriate accommodations for a breastfeeding inmate at the Ingham County Jail, officials at the jail said today that they've agreed to allow the inmate, who was denied the opportunity to express milk last weekend, to bring her own breast pump," an ACLU of Michigan statement says. The letter was sent Wednesday.
“The ACLU applauds the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department for acting immediately upon receiving our letter," ACLU of Michigan staff attorney Miriam Aukerman said in a statement. "Being able to express milk is a serious medical need for women, and jails and prisons have an obligation to ensure that they are meeting these needs, either by allowing women to pump or to breastfeed. We're glad that Ingham County agrees and has decided to get this right."
Jail officials plan to issue a staff directive to ensure that other breastfeeding mothers will also be allowed to bring a pump in the jail in the future, the ACLU said. The ACLU said that the jail has allowed some women in the past to bring in pumps, but not all. The staff directive will now create a uniform policy.
The issue came to light when Christina Milliner began last weekend serving out a sentence for retail fraud. Milliner is under court supervision for the crime, and because of difficulty finding childcare, she missed some meetings. She subsequently was ordered to serve two weekends in jail. She returns this Friday to serve out the remainder of her sentence.
Milliner, who is breastfeeding her prematurely born infant son, complained last weekend while in jail that her breasts became engorged and discolored and she suffered dehydration, and the jail refused to let bring in a breastfeeding pump, the ACLU said.
“When I went to jail (in early August), they refused to let me pump," said Milliner in a statement. "As a result, I was in constant, excruciating pain. But worse than my pain was my fear that, by the time I was released, my milk would dry up and I would no longer be able to breastfeed my newborn, Micah. My baby was so tiny when he was born, and Micah's doctors had kept telling me how important it was that I breastfeed him. No mother should have to go through this -- and certainly no child should either."
