Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in Pennsylvania has installed its first Mamava suite for breastfeeding mothers. Located after security in Terminal F, the suite is a self-contained, mobile pod available at no charge, featuring comfortable benches, a fold-down table, an electrical outlet for plugging in a breast pump, and a door that can be locked for privacy.
The 4ft x 8ft pod is accessible and designed for individual use, but can fit mothers with babies and luggage.
Since 2015, PHL has accommodated nursing mothers through a partnership with Minute Suites, which is located on the A-B connector and provides private rooms for breastfeeding and expressing milk at no charge for the first 30 minutes.
Chellie Cameron, PHL’s CEO, said, “We are proud to provide another place where traveling mothers can breast feed and pump milk for their children. The purpose of this pod is to offer a clean, comfortable, and stress-free environment for this special group of passengers.”
The Mamava app details the location of every Mamava suite and notifies users when they are near a pod. If a mother finds a Mamava location, she can use the app to ‘unlock’ the room via Bluetooth. Once the mother is inside the pod and locks the dead bolt, the pod registers as ‘in use’ on the app.