by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Legislation aimed at ensuring the rights of breastfeeding mothers and infants went up for a public hearing today.

Bill 153, also known as the Mother and Child Act, falls in line with federal law that requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to pump milk for her nursing child and to provide a place other than a bathroom for her to do so. Women Infants and Children program breast feeding peer counselor Zama Martinez expressed support for the bill saying many WIC moms feel they're limited with their choices when they decide to go back to work.

"They feel unsupported by their employers, or even sometimes by their co-workers, there are a lot of issues like that, so knowing they have choices and there's support behind them, I think will empower them to continue their nursing and to offer the baby the healthiest start," she explained.

Guam is one of only less than a handful of states and territories that do not have any form of breastfeeding laws.