Bakersfield College recently added lactation booths around campus to give parents privacy and sanitation when feeding their children.

Nicky Damania, the director of student life, said the booths were implemented in accordance to Title IX. Title IX says parents need to be given an area to feed their children. Damania said, “It’s not just for females, it can be for males as well, it’s a place to go here instead of having to pump food for their children, or to feed their children.”

Currently, there are three lactation booths on campus; one in the cafeteria near a dish room sign, another in the day care center, and in the first floor of the Language Arts building.

Janet Colderrone, the receptionist at the day care center at BC, was unaware of the other lactation booths. Colderrone said throughout the semester the booth has been used about three times. She said the booth has been around since the middle of last semester or “just barely.”

The lactation room is located inside the supervisor’s room. Inside the room there are two chairs for a parent to choose from when they feed their child and a small table. Leticia Cabrera-Mendoza, the supervisor for the day care center, said that whoever uses the booth needs to sign in and clean up after themselves when they are finished. Cabrera-Mendoza also did not know the location of the other two.

The booth in language arts is one of the unoccupied rooms. The privacy of the room is a sheet of paper that covers the majority of the window. Inside the room is a table and a chair.

Goretty Angulano, a parent and worker at the day care center, feels that the lactation booths are good. She said that she would use the booths if she were to have another child. She said it is the parents job to give breast milk as it gives the child nutrients. Angulano said breast milk gives more nutrients than formula and it also provides a chance to bond with the child.