As companies add benefits like complimentary meals and services for their employees, many are adding more amenities to their mother’s rooms for breastfeeding mothers. An easy amenity to add to a mother’s room is breastfeeding snacks. Breastfeeding mothers don’t need to be on a special diet, but since they are busy working and taking care of the baby and their family, it is easy for them to skip meals or not eat healthy snacks. They usually need an extra 300-500 calories a day above their normal nutrition needs. Having something healthy for them to snack on while pumping helps them keep up their energy throughout the workday. Breastfeeding moms need to stay hydrated so having water and tea in the mother’s room is a must. Here are great snack ideas for your mother’s room!
Healthy Foods Many companies provide fruit or snacks for their employees throughout the day. Provide some of these snacks in your mother’s room such as easy to eat fruit (apples, bananas, and pears). Packages of dried fruit and nuts are good sources of protein and fiber. Whole wheat crackers and veggie chips also make satisfying snacks.
Lactation Snacks An excellent snack that many companies put in their mother’s room are lactation bars and cookies. Lactation bars are made specifically for lactating women and are great snacks to have in the mother’s room. They are made from known herbs that promote lactation, also known as galactagogues, such as rolled oats, ground flax, brewer's yeast, and fenugreek. Since moms are often concerned about having enough milk for their babies, these bars are a great way for your moms to help boost their milk supply and energy during the day. They come in a variety of flavors for all moms to enjoy. Most are individually wrapped so they are easy to store in the mother’s room for a mom to grab while she is pumping milk. Here are our favorite and the most popular lactation snacks we sell for mother’s rooms
Oat Mama bars are individually wrapped making them particularly convenient to have in the mother’s room. They contain rolled oats and brewer's yeast to boost milk supply. The bars come in several flavors such as apple cinnamon, peanut butter chocolate, chocolate almond coconut, creamy peanut butter chip, and nut and berry, so there’s bound to be a flavor that a breastfeeding employee will like! They are free of gluten, dairy, soy, and egg. They are very popular with breastfeeding moms and easy to store in a mother’s room. This company is currently reformulating their recipe to have a lower sugar content in mid-2019, so contact us to order while you can!
MilkMakers Lactation Cookie Bites come in individually wrapped packages which makes it easy to have in a mother’s room. They are made of rolled oats, and flax seed with chocolate chunks for a yummy flavor. One to two packages a day can help moms boost their milk supply.
MilkMakers Lactation Bars are filled with tasty ingredients traditionally used to support breast milk supply. These chewy bars conveniently fit into your busy breastfeeding life. Simply tuck one in your bag and get on with your day. Free of soy, egg, dairy and gluten free.
Mrs. Patel’s Lactation Treats
are fenugreek bars that come in a variety of flavors. They also have gluten free and vegan bars for mothers with special diets. They come pre-cut into squares so they are convenient for moms to grab. These bars may need to be refrigerated so they are good for mother’s rooms that have a clean full size fridge.
Keep your mother’s room stocked with snacks, beverages, lactation bars and teas to keep your breastfeeding mothers productive and happy. It’s a small effort that can produce big results and employee appreciation.
It also helps foster good employee and public relations by showing that your company supports working breastfeeding mothers with inclusive snacks. If you would like to find out more about how your company can provide this benefit, contact Healthy Horizons Corporate Lactation Services to help you add this benefit to your lactation program.