The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-15)

A2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, MAY 15 , 2022

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TALK SHOWS

Guests to be interviewed Sunday on

major television talk shows

9

a.m.

FOX NEWS SUNDAY

(WTTG)

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt

(R); Colorado Gov. Jared

Polis (D); Kathy Barnette, a

Republican candidate for

the Senate in

Pennsylvania.

9

a.m.

STATE OF THE UNION

(CNN)

House Speaker Nancy

Pelosi (D-Calif.); Nebraska

Gov. Pete Ricketts (R);

Finnish President Sauli

Niinistö.

9

a.m.

THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA)

Pelosi; Ukrainian Deputy

Prime Minister Olga

Stefanishyna.

9

a.m.

WHITE HOUSE

CHRONICLE (PBS, WETA)

Lloyd Kelly, a Louisville-

based artist and certified

Tai Chi instructor,

discusses how the practice

of Tai Chi can help covid

long-haulers, ME/CFS and

other patients.

10

a.m.

THIS IS AMERICA & THE

WORLD (PBS, WETA)

The Dominican Republic’s

Ambassador to the United

States, Sonia Guzmán,

discusses the many

cultural influences and

general happiness of the

people.

10:

a.m.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC,

WRC)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.);

former governor Pat

McCrory, a R epublican

candidate for the Senate

in North Carolina; National

Economic Council Director

Brian Deese.

10:

a.m.

FACE THE NATION (CBS,

WUSA)

Transportation Secretary

Pete Buttigieg; former

defense secretary Mark T.

Esper; Lloyd Blankfein,

senior chairman of

Goldman Sachs.

BY HANNAH SAMPSON

AND NATALIE B. COMPTON

The Transportation Security

Administration said Friday that a

recent screening of a breastfeed-

ing mother “did not meet our

standards.”

The agency also said it apolo-

gized to Emily Calandrelli in the

days after a viral tweet on her

security screening at Los Angeles

International Airport.

Calandrelli, host of “Emily’s

Wonder Lab” on Netflix, was trav-

eling Monday when a TSA agent

flagged ice packs in her carry-on

bag. Away from her 10-week-old

son for the first time, the mother

of two had packed a breast pump

and two gel ice packs ahead of a

two-day work trip, and was hop-

ing to pump one last time before

departing for a flight to D.C.

Because one was semi-frozen

and the other was room tempera-

ture, the officer said they were in

violation of its liquids rule. He

told Calandrelli she’d have to toss

the packs or check them in her

luggage.

“I remember having this issue

back with my first kid a couple of

years back,” Calandrelli told The

Washington Post. “But this was

the very first time that they actu-

ally didn’t let me take it through.”

TSA has exemptions for its liq-

uids rule for people traveling with

breast milk, formula or accesso-

ries that help keep them cold.

Partially frozen or slushy packs

may be permitted, too, but could

require additional screening,

which conflicts with what Calan-

drelli says she was told.

The agency has a separate rule

on “medically necessary gel ice

packs,” which are allowed regard-

less of their frozen state. Howev-

er, it was unclear whether acces-

sories for breast milk were con-

sidered medically necessary and

allowed in any state as well.

Calandrelli eventually agreed

to check her ice packs and decid-

ed to risk the long wait and pump

once she landed at D ulles Interna-

tional Airport.

“A s I was leaving, the manager

said, ‘A nd don’t try to sneak it

through a second time because

this will just happen again,’ ” Ca-

landrelli said. “It was just not a

fun way to be treated.”

TSA spokesperson R. Carter

Langston said in an email Friday

that the agency reviewed Calan-

drelli’s case on Tuesday and apol-

ogized to her Wednesday.

“The screening process she re-

ceived unfortunately did not meet

our standards,” Langston said.

“We will continue to engage with

advocacy and community-based

organizations to enhance our

screening protocols. Additionally

we will re-double our training to

ensure our screening procedures

are being consistently applied.”

After the TSA incident, Calan-

drelli turned to Twitter to share

her experience. After she’d

checked her bag at the United

Airlines counter, “I just ran to the

bathroom and sat on a toilet and

cried there for like 8 minutes,” she

said. Then she started reading the

replies to her posts. Hundreds of

responses showed she wasn’t

alone in her struggle as a nursing

parent navigating confusing, and

sometimes inconsistent, security

rules. Calandrelli said it was vali-

dating to know she wasn’t alone.

“We are all individually crying

in the bathrooms by ourselves,

not realizing that so many of us

are having this shared experi-

ence,” Calandrelli said.

Jordan Benston, CEO of the

production company Oracle Me-

dia and a mother of two, was one

of the people who tweeted her

support for Calandrelli.

“The last time I traveled with a

bag of breast milk I knew it was

going to be fine, I had done it

before,” Benston said. “But the

guy that was working TSA goes,

‘Wait a minute, let me make sure

you can even take this with you.’ ”

Benston says the agent brought

over a female supervisor who let

her bring the unfrozen milk

through. She said it’s been harder

when she’s packed milk that

wasn’t completely frozen. “They

literally open every single bag of

your breast milk to test it to make

sure that is breast milk,” she said.

Depending on the age of their

baby, a lactating parent should

typically express their milk every

two to four hours if they can’t

breastfeed directly, said Jennifer

Horne, a lactation consultant

with the Lactation Network,

which connects families with

breastfeeding consultants and

products. Given the amount of

time air travel can take — from

traveling to and from the airport

to going through security and

actually flying — someone with-

out their baby will probably need

to pump at least once, she said.

“Our bodies are made to ex-

press the milk regularly,” s he said.

“There are definitely some prob-

lems they can run into if they’re

not doing that.”

Without being able to pump,

the parent can feel pain and dis-

comfort; breasts can become en-

gorged, which can lead to plugged

milk ducts. Ultimately, Horne

said, that can result in mastitis, a

breast infection that, if untreated,

could lead to a breast abscess,

which could require hospitaliza-

tion.

Horne said she’s worked on

plans with lactating parents who

had to travel, a task that typically

requires confirming TSA rules

and finding locations where

pumping can be done comfort-

ably. Horne said she’s recom-

mended that parents bring a bag

of frozen peas instead of regular

ice packs because they aren’t liq-

uid.

Calandrelli’s experience high-

lights the challenges that nursing

parents can encounter, including

finding a place to pump. Legisla-

tion passed in the past few years

ensures that more than 140 U.S.

airports provide clean, private

spaces for breastfeeding or pump-

ing. Small airports are not re-

quired to start offering those ar-

eas until this fall.

With more people traveling

again, some parents may be trav-

eling while lactating for the first

time, and TSA officers may be

encountering more of those par-

ents now said Sascha Mayer, co-

founder and CEO of Mamava,

which makes lactation pods. That

could lead to a steep learning

curve for everyone.

Mamava publishes a guide

called “Fly Fearlessly With Breast

Milk” to help travelers under-

stand their rights at TSA.

Mayer said a parent who is

breastfeeding and works outside

the home essentially has three

jobs: “You have your job job, you

have your home job, and you have

your breastfeeding job. ... Doing

that while traveling, it’s j ust expo-

nentially more complicated and

difficult.”

Since Calandrelli’s posts have

gone viral, she hopes to work with

lawmakers to affect TSA policy. “I

want President Biden to direct

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

and t he Department of Homeland

Security to stop TSA from dis-

criminating against moms who

travel,” she wrote in a follow-up

email.

She’d like TSA to “classify and

clearly state on their website that

breast milk, formula, and related

breast pumping equipment is

considered ‘medically neces-

sary’ ” as well as improve training

and work with nonprofit groups

to improve testing for breast milk

and formula.

TSA apologizes for flawed breast milk screening

PATRICK T. FALLON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A TSA screening area a t Los Angeles International Airport. After a mother was denied passing security

with semi-frozen breast milk, the TSA has clarified its rules for traveling with breast milk in luggage.

Agent said that a Netflix

host’s ice packs for milk

didn’t meet agency rules

After Calandrelli

tweeted about her

experience, s he said s he

started reading the

replies to her posts.

Hundreds of responses

showed she wasn’t

alone in her struggle as

a nursing parent

navigating confusing,

sometimes inconsistent,

security rules.

The Washington Post is committed to
correcting errors that appear in the
newspaper. Those interested in
contacting the paper for that purpose
can:
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connected to the desk involved —
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Business or any of the weekly sections.
Comments can be directed to The
Post’s reader advocate, who can be
reached at 202-334-7582 or
[email protected].

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