Attorney goes public with struggle to pump breast milk, prompting courthouse changes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - The courthouse in St. Petersburg, Florida will soon have a new lactation room and its thanks, in large part, to the work of a Pinellas County attorney.

“At the time I was pumping breast milk to feed my son, my son was born premature and he had an intolerance to formula,” attorney Jennifer Levine Feld explained of how her mission to create equality in the legal system.

Last year, she was juggling a court case with the need to pump breast-milk for her new baby boy.

“It is different when you go in front of a courtroom full of people, discussing your personal life,” she said. “As any new mother would experience I was definitely emotionally strapped at the time."

Feld wrote an article about her experiences.

“It ended up taking off. It was a guide for new mothers, basically how you can pump during a jury trial,” she said.

The popularity of her article would ultimately prompt change. 

In early March, the courthouse in St. Petersburg will be equipped with a new lactation room. Several other courthouses in the Bay Area have them or are also in the process of putting them in.

“It is going be very exciting seeing the lactation room coming to fruition in the St. Pete courthouse,” she said. 

he told FOX 13 visitors will also have access to the room.