What America Can Learn From France Offering Lactating Hotel Rooms To Nursing Olympians

French judo star Clarisse Agbegnenou advocated for rights for lactating parents—and she won. Here's why that's important.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Making the Olympics is no small feat. Neither is nursing and pumping milk to keep a tiny human alive. Doing both at once? That deserves more than a gold medal and a round of applause. It deserves support.

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, French lactating parents will—finally—get just that. Earlier this year, the French Olympic Committee announced it would provide hotel rooms for French athletes not far from the athletes’ village so they can sleep with their nursing children. Partners can also stay to look out for the little ones while their Olympian parents go for the gold.

There will even be a social area for tiny tykes and their families.

It’s unclear if this perk will be extended to all athletes, regardless of nationality. However, French Olympic Committee secretary general Astrid Guyart told media outlets that she estimates the total cost is about 40,000 euros (about $43,000).

The move is a stark cry from the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, during which parents had to publicly demand the right to bring their nursing infant to the city amid COVID-19 restrictions. Listen, the pandemic was serious, but babies still needed to eat.

It also comes after some serious advocacy by French Judo star Clarisse Agbegnenou, who nursed her baby, Athena, while training for—and winning—her sixth world title last year.

Agbegnenou celebrated the news in an Instagram post shared by The Female Quotient, an organization dedicated to closing gaps like pay and care that disproportionately affect women. In the video, you see Agbegnenou and Athena in both of their elements: Agbegnenou near a judo court and Athena nursing away.

Paralympian Sarah Storey, who has won 28 medals, is also in the video. In the caption, there’s a quote from her: "It’s absolutely possible to breastfeed and be at the highest level of sport because I’ve done it. Your baby is settled, it’s not crying, it’s not upset, and you can focus on the job that you’ve got to do as an athlete.”

It's possible but not easy—especially when the system puts hurdles in your way (and not the kind they put on the track). That’s why this news and the video are so important.

This Is No Small Feat

The commenters on the Instagram post are impressed.

“I’d like a list of the breastfeeding athletes so I can cheer for them. I am in awe,” wrote one.

“Imagine having an Olympic-level body and also producing milk! These women are amazing,” said another.

What’s also amazing is that these athletes stepped into their power and shook up a broken system, laying the foundation for better accommodations for future Olympians. It’s also an example to all employers that it’s entirely possible—and right—to treat employees as full people.

Nursing parents’ concerns were discarded three years ago until the outcry went public. I remember the comments during the outcry, too. People who don’t understand lactation were telling them to “just bottle feed until the Olympics were over” or to “just stay home,” as if the opportunity to go to the Olympics comes along every day.

Advocacy is so important. These athletes have training schedules to adhere to. Like other working parents, they go home and become “moms”—a role that often comes with so much invisible work. Becoming a visible advocate for change can feel like another to-do, but it’s one Agbegnenou took on, and risk was involved.

She could have been labeled “high-maintenance” or “difficult,” terms sometimes used when women make demands. It's not lost on me that she’s Black in a predominantly white country, either, and therefore, like Black people in the U.S., no doubt faces unconscious (and conscious) bias.

But she took the risk, and other athletes get to reap the rewards—the opportunity to be near their infants and continue to feed them. Also, families and kids will have a chance to mix and mingle in a social area (hey, the U.S. government, maybe we can climb back off the child care cliff?).

Take Notes, U.S. Employers

A former employer of mine had a lactation room, a now legal requirement for employers with more than 50 workers. While the room was supposed to be readily available and just for lactating parents, it became a frequent space for unscheduled meetings.

I was newly pregnant with my first when a new mother returned to work. That’s when the HR Slacks and emails started, constantly needing to remind people to keep out. One reminder should have sufficed. The lack of space for meetings really shouldn’t have been the problem for this woman—or the child she needed to pump for.

It really made me think about what my life would be like if I stayed post-baby (I didn’t).

Progress has been made since. For instance, the PUMP Act was passed in 2022, which requires that nursing employees have a private place and break time to pump. New York State passed a law that said parents can pump for up to three years following the birth of a child in 2023. That’s more than the one year allotted in the PUMP Act and more in line with health organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which suggests providing human milk to children for two years or beyond if mutually desired.

But more work is needed.

The New York Times ran a story in 2022 on what it takes to nurse. One woman, a teacher, pumped in a closet. She deserved better, and so do the people still pumping in closets or constantly tasked with telling people to stop having meetings in lactation rooms.

Better doesn’t happen when people stay quiet. Kudos to Agbegnenou for rising up and parenting out loud—for assuming risk and changing the system so others don’t have to.

She’s already a winner in my book.

For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Parents.