The infants who come to work with their mothers and fathers as part of the Infants at Work program had a special visitor this week when Governor Doug Ducey met with participating parents and their babies. Governor Ducey announced in his State of the State address Monday that the Infant at Work program will be expanding to more state agencies this year.

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Infant at Work program allows infants up to six months old to come into work with their mom, dad, or caregiver . The many public health benefits include allowing babies time to bond with their caregiver, breastfeeding support to ensure mom and baby get off to a healthy start, and has the employee benefits of boosting office morale and having our working moms and dads come back to work sooner and stay with the Department longer. The Infant at Work Program operates at no cost to the state.

ADHS started its breastfeeding at work program in 2000, which then evolved into the Infant at Work Program in 2007. Our Infant at Work program has since been in place for ten years. Ever since then, ADHS has hosted close to 200 babies.

“Arizona Department of Health Services currently allows new moms and dads to bring their babies to work the first six months. The results have been impressive, and we plan to expand it even more. It’s a win-win-win- increased productivity, quality employees less likely to leave state service, and most important- happy babies,” said Governor Ducey.

It’s hard to miss the positive boost to employee morale as coworkers enjoy having a baby in the office. It’s hard not to enjoy a meeting when a baby has joined the discussion. Participating parents say they are more eager to return to work, get the added bonus of saving on daycare costs while in the program, and most importantly, babies in the program are happy. My personal experience with the Infant at Work program has made working at ADHS much more than a job to me (I’ve had two go through the program). My team has held my babies, watched my children get bigger, and still send little notes and special things to my kids because of the bond they have with them.

This program is one of the reasons ADHS is an incredible place to work. I’m excited for other state agencies to join in on this wonderful program!​