Providing emotional and psychological support to nursing mothers through Chevron’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Chevron’s internal Employee Assistance Program and WorkLife Services (EAP/WL) group is comprised of a team of 12 advisors who provide on-site mental health and worklife support for employees, dependents, and retirees across the enterprise. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, EAP/WL implemented a virtual support group for the first time this year for nursing mothers. The program helps to meet the organizational need within the company, by providing a program that addresses the emotional needs of nursing mothers. The sessions were moderated by an internationally board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) with support from two employees: (1) a licensed mental health professional and (2) a worklife advisor. The employees were available to address any emotional and psychologically-related concerns raised by mothers during the monthly discussions. Strategies and best practices for developing a virtual support group for employees are described in this article. Sharing this program may assist other employers in implementing a similar program in support of their employees.

Keywords:

• Postpartum depression
• workplace stress
• COVID-19
• lactation support
• maternity stress
• pregnancy
• Employee Assistance Programs
• maternal health
• breastfeeding
• worklife

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Valeri Gatlin, MA, ICCE, IBCLC, who lends her expertise to the virtual support groups each month. Her expertise and ability to reach families during this COVID-19 pandemic is appreciated. Thank you to the following Chevron leaders: Rhonda Morris, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer; Huma Abbasi, General Manager, Corporate Health & Medical; Audrey Lamastro, HR Director, Total Rewards, whose support of this program was instrumental in allowing the information about the support group to be communicated out to the wider workforce, and for the program to move forward and thrive in support of working mothers. Thank you to Stirling Alexander, Corporate Communications Advisor, for editorial and vetting assistance with this manuscript. Thank you to John Dillon Riley (retired) for his decades long leadership with Chevron's EAP.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no known financial, sponsorship or personal relationships, both professional and personal, that have influenced the content of this article.