Mother's Day is right around the corner, and one Ozone Park resident hopes to make breast feeding and breast pumping safer and more socially accepted. NY1's Shannan Ferry filed the following report.
With the click of a button, Priya Nembhard has dozens of nearby nursing room locations at her fingertips.
Her GPS app “Moms Pump Here” helps mothers find, rate, and share safe places to breast feed and breast pump while on the go.
"It's a woman's right to breast feed out in public, but if a woman, mom wants privacy, it's not always easy to sit out in public. You know, a lot of moms are shamed nowadays," said Nembhard.
The Ozone Park resident created the app and website last May with a business partner and launched an upgraded version this week.
Nembhard says she was inspired by first-hand experiences breastfeeding in unsanitary places when her children were babies.
"So the whole concept is based on the fact that if you're not gonna prepare a meal in a public bathroom, or eat in a bathroom, then why should a mother do that for their baby?" she said.
According to the latest numbers available from the Centers for Disease Control, more than 86 percent of women in New York State breastfeed their children at some point. In fact, the City Council is currently considering a bill that would require lactation rooms in certain public spaces.
Nembhard says each nursing room location on her app goes through a vetting process.
"Our basic requirements for a nursing room are the couch, the privacy, the sink if available, a table to put your things, and a changing table for the baby," she said.
Another goal Nembhard has for the app is to help public breast feeding and pumping become more accepted in society.
"Women deal with tons of stereotypes, we want all of our moms to know that they have choices," she explained.
Those choices range from retail stores to stadiums on Nembhard's app.
“Moms Pump Here” is available for download at the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon.