Touro’s Nursing Nest Program Gives Moms a Private, Air-Conditioned Place to Care For Their Babies

When you are the mother of a breastfeeding baby, there are few things more top-of-mind than sticking to a schedule. Unfortunately, as much as a mom may want to plan ahead, feeding a nursing baby does not always fit neatly into the day’s schedule.

For breastfeeding mothers, a family outing requires thinking ahead. Where will I be able to nurse or pump? Will there be a quiet, comfortable place to care for my baby? Add New Orleans’ heat, a crowded festival or a busy attraction, and something as routine as feeding or changing a baby can become complicated.

LCMC Health’s Touro is working to make it easier.

Since 2022, Touro has partnered with local businesses and community organizations to establish free Nursing Nests at locations families frequently visit throughout the Greater New Orleans area. These locations include Lakeside Shopping Center, the New Orleans Jewish Community Center, the Audubon Zoo and the Audubon Aquarium.

The Nursing Nests provide private spaces where mothers can breastfeed, pump or care for their babies while away from home. While designed with breastfeeding and pumping mothers in mind, the spaces can also be used for diaper changes, bottle-feeding, or simply taking a quiet break with their baby.

The program has also gone mobile, bringing the same concept to festivals and other community events.

For mothers who have used the Nursing Nests, the concept solves a very practical problem.

“When you are nursing, you are constantly looking for a place to nurse privately or for a place to change a diaper,” said Janelle Faucheux, 36, who used a Nursing Nest while breastfeeding her son, Colson.

Bringing breastfeeding support into the community

The Nursing Nests extend Touro’s breastfeeding and maternal health programs beyond the hospital and into places where families spend their time.

The program began in 2022 as Touro marked 100 years of delivering babies. Touro partnered with local businesses and community organizations to establish free spaces where mothers could comfortably feed and care for their babies while out in the community.

Nursing Nests vary depending on their location, but they are designed around the same basic needs. They provide clean, comfortable seating, and privacy for breastfeeding. They also include electrical outlets for breast pumps, baby changing areas and maternal and child health information.

The Mobile Nursing Nest takes those resources directly to festivals and other community events, where finding a quiet, private, and comfortable place to feed a baby can be particularly difficult. Women who have used the Nursing Nests said this Touro community service also provides another very important thing: air conditioning!

The program complements Touro’s other breastfeeding services, which include lactation consultants, breastfeeding education, and breast pump rentals and supplies.

A cool, quiet place at the zoo

Janelle Faucheux, who lives outside Denver with her husband, Kyle, and their two children, discovered the Nursing Nest during one of the family’s extended visits to relatives in New Orleans. She breastfed Colson, now 2½, until he was 2, and had already learned how much planning could go into nursing away from home.

During one visit, the family was spending a lot of time at Audubon Zoo. At a Halloween event, “Boo at the Zoo,” Faucheux spotted the Nursing Nest. “It was so hot,” she said. “We are not used to the heat and humidity, and I saw the van and thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s perfect.’”

While the rest of her family continued enjoying the Halloween activities, Faucheux took Colson inside. The air conditioning immediately made a difference, but she also appreciated the privacy, cleanliness and quiet.

“It was great to be there with other moms,” she said. “Very calm place, which I really liked. It was perfect. I didn’t have to fumble around looking for a cover, and the changing table was private behind a curtain.”

Instead of trying to feed her son in the middle of a busy event, she could take her time. “Calm and clean,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I had to rush. He was relaxed.”

Taking some of the stress out of feeding away from home

Ashley Jacobs, 28, understands how much planning can go into even a simple outing with a breastfeeding baby. Her daughter, Holli Ann, is 7 months old. “I didn’t see a lot of women nursing growing up, so I decided to try and see what happens,” she said. “It worked out well.”

Holli Ann initially had difficulty latching, meaning she had trouble attaching properly to the breast to feed. Jacobs began with formula and pumped breast milk, then supplemented the two while establishing her milk supply. Eventually, she was able to transition to breastfeeding exclusively.

Once she began taking Holli Ann out, Jacobs encountered another challenge familiar to many new parents: figuring out where the next feeding would happen.

“After having a baby, first-time parent, it’s hard to plan the day,” Jacobs said. “You are always thinking about where you are going to be when it’s time for the baby to eat.”

For Jacobs, privacy matters. “You go someplace and there isn’t a private place to be,” she said. “I feel a little self-conscious and want to be in a private area.”

The Mobile Nursing Nest changed that experience when Jacobs attended the French Quarter Festival. “I didn’t have to look for a restaurant or a private corner somewhere,” she said. “Knowing there was a place I could go to feed her made things less stressful and was truly a huge help.”

Inside, she found a clean, private and air-conditioned space where she could comfortably breastfeed Holli Ann and change her diaper. Breast pads were also available.

Ashley recently visited the Audubon Aquarium and was pleased to find a Nursing Nest there, too. “Touro’s Nursing Nests truly worked for me,” Jacobs said. “I’d like to see more of them at events around New Orleans.”

Making festivals easier with a nursing baby

Katie Brown, 36, of New Orleans has breastfed all three of her daughters. Her youngest, Madison, now 2, breastfed until she was about 13 months old.

With three children, Brown has plenty of experience feeding babies away from home. “I’ve nursed in so many different places,” she said. “When you have a hungry baby, you have to do what you have to do.”

Brown used Touro’s mobile Nursing Nest at Boo at the Zoo and the Hogs for the Cause festival, as well as at the Audubon Aquarium. She said the mobile unit offered something difficult to find in the middle of a crowded festival: a comfortable environment designed specifically for feeding a baby.

“A Nursing Nest makes it so much easier to go out with your baby,” Brown said. “In the NOLA heat, you have a seat, it’s air-conditioned, and you have water in there. It’s just a great environment.”

The quiet matters, too.

“You’re not in the middle of the zoo or a festival trying to cover yourself and your baby,” she said. “It’s a peaceful, relaxing spot to feed your baby comfortably.”

Without a Nursing Nest, Brown said she might search for a secluded bench or return to her car and turn on the air conditioning. She said she prefers using a nursing cover when breastfeeding in public, but in New Orleans weather, covering both mother and baby can quickly become uncomfortable. Going back to the car creates its own problems. It takes time, requires leaving the event and means running the vehicle and air conditioning while the baby eats. The Nursing Nest gives her a “much better option.”

Supporting moms beyond the hospital

The Nursing Nests are one part of Touro’s broader effort to support mothers before and after delivery. Touro provides breastfeeding education and lactation services to help families establish and continue breastfeeding. The Nursing Nest program carries that support beyond the hospital by putting resources in places where families shop, visit attractions, and attend community events.

That approach recognizes a practical reality. Breastfeeding support does not end when a mother and baby leave the hospital. Mothers still have to feed their babies while going about their daily lives.

Permanent Nursing Nests make that easier at several popular Greater New Orleans destinations. The Mobile Nursing Nest expands the concept by bringing a private, air-conditioned space directly to festivals and special events.

For Faucheux, Jacobs, and Brown, the value of the program came down to simple things: privacy, a comfortable seat, air conditioning, a place to change a diaper and the freedom to feed their babies without feeling rushed.

For families enjoying a day at the zoo, shopping or attending a festival, those conveniences can turn what might have been a stressful interruption into a comfortable break.

As Brown put it, sometimes what a nursing mother needs most is simply “a peaceful, relaxing spot to feed your baby comfortably.”

Find a Nursing Nest near you and learn more about Touro’s Nursing Nest program.