A former storage room in a Durham elementary school is now serving as a safe space for working moms. 

Lyons Farm Elementary School is no stranger to the constraints that come with a growing student body. 

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“We have about 80-85 staff members, and we’ve got about 650 kids right now,” Corin Kane with the school’s PTA board said. “The school is bursting at the seams. We are limited on space here.”

The result for working moms meant fewer places to nurse newborns or pump. The one area people turned to was an old storage room in the front office, containing file cabinets and one old table. 

Kane and other moms sharing the area also lacked privacy.

“It was also a space that people go in and out of,” Kane said. 

Two of the school’s newest mothers, Art Teacher Luize Melo and MTSS Facilitator Tiana Thomas-Goodwin, shared that they had to go to the storage room two or three times daily. 

“Pumping while working fulltime is also a full-time job,” Thomas-Goodwin said. “I was pumping in there for the majority of the beginning of the year. It was sort of just a bleak little closet.” 

Melo added, “Whenever we have a big school, sometimes we don’t have the space and it’s really hard.”

Melo, now mom to a 7-month-old named Benji, returned to teaching when her son was 3 months old. Her classroom next year is now in jeopardy, due to rising numbers.

“Looking at next year’s numbers, I may not even have this space anymore,” Melo said. “Securing a safe and calm space for pumping, it was a priority.”

Hearing concerns from the school’s moms about a lack of space and privacy, Kane looked to take action. 

The PTA member found a national competition, run by Aeroflow Breastpumps, and entered Lyons Farm Elementary School to win a $10,000 mom’s room makeover. 

The school was chosen as the grand prize winner out of more than 300 applicants.

“I was actually here at dismissal, and I was able to run up to the principal and was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ Kane said. “It was very fun to be able to say to the teachers, ‘Hey, you’re going to come back and you’re going to get to have this space that you aren’t going to have to fight for time in.”

Aeroflow Breastpumps' application period wrapped up on April 6.

“We at Aeroflow Breastpumps believe every mama should have a space where they feel comfortable to feed or pump for their babies,” said Maria Talbert, senior manager of Aeroflow Breastpumps strategy and marketing. “Every space is unique. We really think about what the space looks like and the dimensions.”

Talbert shared that the room is now equipped with new nursing chairs, a privacy screen, breast pumps, a bottle warmer, a fridge to store milk and other essentials for new moms. 

“It’s really a space that’s been transformed for their needs. During the busy day, they’re able to go in, and to focus on what they need to be able to accomplish without any stress or any discomfort,” Talbert said. 

Thomas-Goodwin and Melo shared that the impact was immediate. 

“It’s amazing! I was pretty shocked,” Thomas-Goodwin said of her first time seeing the renovated room. “I was shocked they could turn it into something so nice and comfortable. They put a lot of thought into it and it’s not just a chair and a table, which was what was in there before.”

Melo agreed it was clear the room was designed by moms for moms. 

“I saw them putting it together and was like, ‘I don’t know how they’re going to fit all of that in here!’ They worked their magic, and it looks so amazing,” Melo said. “The lights, the fridge – You can definitely tell they are also moms and they thought about every single thing for us.”

The moms said they encourage other schools and businesses to invest in lactation rooms to retain employees, and prioritize growing families. 

“I think it makes for a more welcoming space for women overall. I think whether you are somebody that is pumping or breastfeeding or thinking about it, it’s a space that’s welcoming for everybody,” Thomas-Goodwin said. “It shows that at this school we respect women and the stuff we have to do to be a working mom.”

Melo added, “Balancing work in our lives as moms, especially when they are so little, it’s very hard. Knowing that you have people around you that are supporting your journey to go back to work and balance those things, really helps. If every school has the opportunity to do that, I think all of the moms out there would be very grateful.”

When asked her biggest takeaway of what the new room meant, Melo simply stated, “I feel seen as a working mom.”

Kane said she is glad her submission helped give back to the school’s hardworking educators. 

“Just supporting the teacher as a whole; We’re going to be able to keep our teachers longer and they’re going to see that you can do this and be a mom and do this job,” Kane said. “Categorically, we know our teachers are majority women. To say to them, ‘We see you, and we see you in all facets of our life.”

She continued, “You want to be a mother, and you want to be an educator. You are very much a caretaker to these children, too. And we want to support you in whatever way we can.”

Aeroflow Breastpumps told WRAL News it has plans for more sweepstakes in the future. 

In addition to Lyons Farm Elementary School, the company has also remade mothers’ rooms in a hospital NICU and military base since 2018.