CircleBumpCheckedFilledMedicalBookmarkBookmarkTickBookmarkAddCheckBoxCheckBoxFilled

The Tyranny of the TSA: Set Our Breast Pumps Free!

save article
profile picture of Jessica Shortall
By Jessica Shortall, Contributing Writer
Updated March 2, 2017
Hero Image
Image: Shutterstock

Jessica Shortall is a working mom with a career dedicated to the intersection of business and doing good. As the former Director of Giving for TOMS Shoes, she literally circumnavigated the globe with a breast pump, and now she’s here to give you advice for dealing with the challenges of being a working and pumping mom. Order her new book from Abrams,  Work. Pump. Repeat.: The New Mom’s Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work, available now!

Every working, breastfeeding, traveling mama has a story: the TSA agent who dumped out her breast milk, or who insisted on sticking an unexplained “test strip” into her breast milk, so she ended up dumping it herself. The TSA agent who disassembled her entire pump, touching every part with gloves that had touched a thousand other travelers that day. And, of course, the TSA agent who made her cry.

The list is endless, because those agents have all the power. All they have to do is say the word, and you either miss your business trip or — worse — you miss getting home to your family. What’s clear from story after story is that TSA rules on breast milk and breast pumps are too vague, and therefore open to wide interpretation. Agents themselves are not consistently and proactively trained to treat breastfeeding mothers with anything bordering on respect for the fact that what they’re doing — and the equipment they’re carrying — is medical in nature.

This week I heard from Nicole, a working mom of a 10-month-old baby, who works in the health industry. On Tuesday, she was checking in at the Portland (PDX) airport when her breast pump triggered an alarm. She told me that while this doesn’t happen to her in other airports, it’s a frequent occurrence at PDX. Her impression is that “the screeners don’t seem to know what they are looking at.”

Related Video

Nicole was told she would need a full pat down by a female officer (even though her body scan did not trigger any alarms), and her bag would be fully searched. The agent instructed the other officers to “keep a visual on her at all times” (because, you know, forceful letdown can be lethal), while he disassembled the entire breast pump bag, pulling out parts, tubes, attachments, storage bags, and hands-free pumping bra. Nicole asked him to please be careful (every pumping mom knows that losing a part is equivalent to losing the whole pump, and keeping the parts clean is essential), but she says he didn’t even acknowledge her comment. The agent then stuffed everything back in the bag and lectured her about bringing a rechargeable battery through security. (Nicole says, “Newsflash: this feature is why I travel with it on airplanes.”) He also told Nicole that her “personal choices” were the reason for the search and pat down.

Bad, right? Well, hang on to your nursing bras, because it gets worse.

Once on the plane, Nicole went to pump, and realized that the agent had pulled apart several of the pump components. There were two parts that, because of what the agent did to them, Nicole simply could not get back together. She spent 20 minutes, in tears, trying to fix her pump, until she finally gave up and faced the reality of several hours of cross-country travel without a working breast pump.

Transportation Security Administration rules on traveling with a breast pump and/or breast milk are frustratingly vague. You can find them here, to see for yourself. (And if you’re flying with a pump, print that page out and bring it with you to wave around.) A lot is left to the imagination, such as “other types of screening” that might be required. What’s clear from Nicole’s experience is this:

  • Training is inconsisent
  • There is no mandate to treat breastfeeding mothers respectfully, or to treat their pumps and their milk as medical in nature
  • There is zero medical consideration for the engorgement, pain and loss of milk that will result from an agent tampering with a woman’s breast pump
  • As with other run-ins with the TSA, there is no real recourse when you’re treated like garbage; Nicole will be lucky if she gets an apology

All of this, clearly, is because the people writing the rules, and the people enforcing them, have never done this. They don’t know what engorgement is, they don’t understand milk supply, they have no concept of the precious milk stash that the working mother is trying to replenish with the milk she pumps while traveling. To them, this isn’t medical, it’s a “personal choice” that is an inconvenience to them.

That’s why I’m calling for the TSA to rewrite its policy — but not by a bunch of bureaucrats who have never leaked breast milk through their blouses, never pumped in an airplane bathroom, never been solely responsible for physically producing another human’s nutrition. The TSA needs a panel of women who have pumped and traveled with pumps and milk to help them write the new policy and new training materials. Anything less is going to continue to be anti-breastfeeding. I, for one, would be first in line to volunteer to help our dear old TSA figure this out, once and for all.

If you agree, I’ve got a petition for you. Please sign and share. And if you have a TSA nightmare — or a great experience! — share it in the comments.

save article
ADVERTISEMENT

Next on Your Reading List

jennifer garner and her children next to a headshot of jennifer garner on the red carpet
Jennifer Garner on Why “a Little Benign Neglect” Is the Key Parenting
By Wyndi Kappes
baby tooth in child's hand
Toss or Treasure: Jake Johnson Sparks Debate on Keeping Baby's Teeth
By Wyndi Kappes
mom and baby dancing in living room
Kid's Music Ruining Your Spotify Wrapped? These Parents Can Relate
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
36 matching family pajamas for the holidays and beyond-hero
36 Matching Family Pajamas for the Holidays and Beyond
By The Bump Editors
gifts-for-pregnant-friend-HERO
42 Gifts for Pregnant Women That Are Cute and Congratulatory
By Martina Garvey
hanukkah gifts hero
The Best Hanukkah Gift Ideas for Babies, Toddlers and Caregivers
By Cassie Kreitner
gratitude tablecloth for thanksgiving
The Viral Gratitude Tablecloth Tradition You Can Try This Thanksgiving
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
friends giving pregnant woman gifts
45 Best Mom-To-Be Gifts That Celebrate Her
By Emma O'Regan-Reidy
mom talking to son
The Parenting Hack Going Viral: Mastering the 'When/Then' Reframe
By Wyndi Kappes
andy cohen and kids
Bravo’s Andy Cohen Shares His Best Piece of Parenting Advice
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
mom and dad holding newborn baby at home
Viral Post Shares How to Raise Your First Baby Like It’s Your Third
By Wyndi Kappes
mombies dancing to raise money this halloween
Meet the “Mombies” Raising Money for Cancer Research
By Wyndi Kappes
kids trick or treating for halloween
These Are the Top 15 States for Trick-or-Treating in 2023
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
Christmas Gifts for Grandparents Hero
36 Festive and Fun Christmas Gifts for Grandparents
By Danielle Halibey
Christmas Gifts for Parents Hero
45 Christmas Gifts for Parents on the Nice List
By Martina Garvey
New Dad Gifts-hero
The Best Gifts for New Dads to Suit Any Budget
By Emma O'Regan-Reidy
Breast Cancer Awareness Hero
14 Gifts That Give Back for Breast Cancer Awareness
By Martina Garvey
ADVERTISEMENT
Big Sister Gift Hero
23 Big Sister Gifts to Celebrate Her New Status
By Cassie Kreitner
dad and daughter drawing at home
How Dads Can Help Boost Their Child’s Early Educational Success
By Wyndi Kappes
US actor Josh Duhamel (L) and his wife US model Audra Mari pose during a photocall for the Golden Nymph Awards ceremony of the 62nd Monte-Carlo Television Festival in the principalty of Monaco on June 20, 2023
Josh Duhamel’s Son Axl Has Adorable Reaction to New Big Brother Role
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
Article removed.
Article removed.
Name added. View Your List