Amid the activity and noise of Penn Station is a new oasis of sorts, an enclosed pod decorated with sky imagery, where women can nurse infants and pump milk. It’s equipped with benches, a fold-down table and electrical outlets to enable a practice that doctors promote as beneficial to the health of babies — but many moms find hard to do when in public.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said the pods are a good idea. Wen breastfed her 9-month-old son Eli for seven months, but said she thought every day about quitting, in large part because it was so difficult to fit into her busy schedule. She recalled once pumping on an Amtrak train to the dismay of a businessman on a conference call who asked if she could stop the noise. He also told Wen that what she was doing was unsanitary.

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