39th Medical Group opens nursing room Published May 13, 2011 By Tech. Sgt. Valda Wilson 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- The 39th Medical Group held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of their lactation room aka a nursing room on May 2. The intent of the nursing room is to give Incirlik's nursing mothers a comfortable and private place to breast feed their babies or to safely pump the milk for later use. "It's important to have a lactation room to provide a nice environment for mothers that is calm and stress free," said Senior Airman Katelin Hunt, from the 39th Medical Operations Squadron. Another reason the nursing room was opened was to encourage the continuation of breast feeding. "This room is especially important because it will encourage new mothers to breast feed their infants which has been proven to produce healthier children, happier mothers and encourages even stronger bonding all of which support the family," said Lt. Col. Stephanie Buffett, the 39th Medical Operations Squadron commander. In the past, nursing mothers with appointments have used patient-exam rooms for nursing their babies and this has caused some challenges for the providers. "Many mothers come to their newborns appointments here and have to cut the time short or take up an exam room to nurse their baby. It becomes a work stoppage for the provider seeing that patient, we hope to eliminate that by having this room," said Airman Hunt "The opening of the lactation room was due to the issues I had being a new mother back to work after six weeks and trying to keep up my milk supply," said Airman Hunt. "I didn't have a place that was comfortable or easily accessible in my work area." "We typically have about eight to 10 nursing mothers who are working in the medical group at any given time. Additionally, we have anywhere from 20 to 40 nursing mothers as part of our Incirlik community who frequent the medical group for their and their children's medical needs," added Colonel Buffett. "I hope the mothers in the Incirlik community get a chance to use the room and appreciate the work that went into it," concluded Airman Hunt.