Babies in the Workplace

Being around happy babies at work has a calming and soothing effect on many people, which equates to lower stress levels. In addition, being able to bring babies to work makes it much easier for mothers to continue breastfeeding for at least the first six months of their babies' lives (as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics), which results in healthier babies and healthier mothers (including much lower risks for babies of contracting acute infections, diabetes, and several types of cancer, as well as lower risks for mothers of contracting osteoporosis, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. The lower stress for parents of not having to separate from their babies to go to work also likely results in better health for parents and babies, given the documented connection between stress and health.

Companies with structured baby programs find that, even though the minute-to-minute productivity of parents often goes down when they are combining baby care and work, parents work extremely hard to successfully complete their work tasks by learning more efficient ways to do their jobs, by staying late as needed (easier with a first baby, since parents don't have to leave early to get to a day care before it closes), or by just working very hard during the blocks of time when their babies are sleeping.