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Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Neonatology Director Snehal Doshi, left, Chief Nursing Officer Katherine Gartman, second from left, Coordinator for Philanthropic Services Olivia Warner and her daughter Marlow, second from right, and Executive Director for Philanthropic Services Kim Moncla, right, cut the ribbon to the hospital's new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

The inside of the new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

The new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

The inside of the new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

The inside of the new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Neonatology Director Snehal Doshi talks about the importance of the hospital's new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Neonatology Director Snehal Doshi, left, Chief Nursing Officer Katherine Gartman, second from left, Coordinator for Philanthropic Services Olivia Warner and her daughter Marlow, second from right, and Executive Director for Philanthropic Services Kim Moncla, right, cut the ribbon to the hospital's new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Coordinator for Philanthropic Services Olivia Warner, left, discusses the new Mamava Lactation Pod, located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of Baptist Hospital in Beaumont before Chaplain Kevin Trinkle, right gives an invocation prior to the ribbon cutting. Photo taken July 22, 2022. Photo by Olivia Malick/ The Enterprise

Southeast Texas parents now have a private area to breastfeed their children in a public setting.

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas on Friday unveiled the region's first Mamava Lactation Pod -- a private room equipped with resources where people can safely breastfeed and pump breast milk.

The pod will be open to staff and visitors of Baptist Hospital as well as to members of\ the public.

Funded by the Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Foundation, the pod is equipped with a table, two built-in benches, an external numeric keypad lock, internal deadbolt with external indicator showing "vacant/in use," among other amenities, according to a news release.

The pod has plugs, air control and the ability to allow users of the accompanying Mamava app to dim the lighting within the pod for a more relaxing environment.

The pod's opening marked a special moment for one of Baptist Hospitals' own, Philanthropic Coordinator Olivia Warner, who, when approached about the possibility of bringing one to Southeast Texas by Neonatology Director Snehal Doshi, had just found out she was pregnant herself.

"This became a very personal project for me to see through," said Warner, who brought her daughter Marlow to serve as a mascot for the new facility at a ribbon cutting Friday morning. "It's definitely exciting just to have something like this."

From the presentation of the idea to its opening, the process took more than a year and cost about $26,000 to build, said Executive Director for Philanthropic Services Kim Moncla.

"We never imagined a formula crisis when this was started, but that's just another element," she said.

Doshi said that oftentimes in public spaces, there isn't an area where parents can go to breastfeed their children, this pod will help to alleviate that issue and provide individuals safety and privacy to do so. 

"Breastfeeding is hard enough on its own," he said. "Right now, with the formula crisis, the shortages that are out there, any way that we can support moms to help them breastfeed, (we'll do)."

Doshi said not having a private space for people to breastfeed is a concern he's observed for a while. The hospital has a private room, but it's upstairs and not readily accessible to non-staff, whereas the pod is located in the Neches Lobby on the first floor of the hospital.

"This is a way to put that at the forefront," he said. "Put it here in the lobby, make it central for not only our staff to make it something that they can easily walk past and see, but also for guests, this is something guest can readily access."

To use the pod, download the Mamava app. After creating an account, the app will let users know where the nearest pod is.

After they have selected a location, the app will let the user know if the pod is in use and if it isn't, will provide a code that the user can enter on the keypad outside of the pod. The app will generate a new code each time.

The pod is also ADA accessible.

Warner said the pod is also a great recruiting tool for hospitals.

"What a great thing to know that when you come to the hospital, even as a visitor," she said. "Everyone's required to come back and take newborn labs a week after your baby is born. It's an Olympic sport trying to get out of the house with a newborn. When I brought (Marlow) in, we didn't have the pod yet and I was just -- anxiety, just like 'Please don't freak out.' Just to even have that then would have been so nice."

Moncla said the hospital will see how much usage the pod gets and if it seems warranted, could look at adding more to the vast campus in the future.

Baptist Hospital is located at 3080 College St. in Beaumont.

Olivia Malick is the education reporter for The Beaumont Enterprise.