Breast Pumps at Work - Nursing Moms Stir Workplace issues
Breastfeeding at work – could there be a more uncomfortable topic?
I’d put money on “No.”
You can discuss the latest cars, cell phones or fashions with your co-workers, but just watch the place empty out when you start talking about breast pumps.
Alas, there were 4.14 million babies born in the United States in 2005, according to the National Center for Health Statistics – and every one of them had to be fed.
Tens of thousands of new moms are caught in the struggle between a baby’s need to have the most fulfilling nourishment possible and an employer’s desire to have workers back on the job. The good news is that many of them have gracefully managed to bridge that divide.
Stirs up a lot of issues
Honestly, it’s hard enough to have a breast-feeding discussion with your friends, much less your boss, because it brings up all sorts of deeply felt cultural issues. How long are you going to breast-feed? Why are you not? Why are you squirting milk over every shirt – or feel dry as a bone compared to your nursing friends?
One of your answers is bound to clash with someone else’s beliefs. Best to just let go of the bad vibes and deal with your own unique situation.
In the past, your boss knew you had a baby but never discussed how you were feeding it. Now it’s part of his or her job to know – especially if your position needs to be covered by another worker while you are pumping milk or your schedule conflicts with a regular meeting.
So have that chat before you return. As uncomfortable as it may seem, I promise it will be short.
And your colleagues? It’s really none of their business, except when you are part of a team. Figure out a stock answer to their questions – and prepare for reactions ranging from encouraging to sophomoric.
Breastfeeding: Just the facts
According to the La Leche League, nursing saves families nearly $1,000 in health care costs during a baby’s first year, and women who breast-feed after returning to work miss less time because of baby-related illnesses than new moms who do not breast-feed.
But it does require advance planning. You need to have a breast pump, a clean area to pump milk, a place to keep the milk cold and a container in which to take the milk home. You probably also need an extra work shirt for spills or leaks.
Dr. Jane Morton, clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, recommends pumping milk every four to six hours when you are away from your baby, as well as breast-feeding right before you leave for work and as soon as you arrive home.
La Leche suggests using a double pump at work to cut each break time to about 15 minutes instead of 30.
None of this is going to be easy if your office is less than accommodating or has time-specific rush periods. The recommendations also assume you are a pumping maven from day one. It’s a skill, like any, that needs to be practiced and perfected before you add on the stress of a full workday.
Supply closets we have known
Carolyn Oakley, a 30-year-old graphic artist in West Chester, Pa., had a supportive boss but a common problem: she was a pumping vagabond. She began using one vacant office after another, but those positions kept being filled. She then commandeered the conference room, but when that was busy she ended up in a supply closet. While her creativity solved the “where” issue, Oakley then ran into the “how much” issue.
“The most frustrating part was when my supply started to lessen – despite pumping three times a day at work and once overnight, in addition to nursing the baby,” she said.
Many factors can affect a woman’s milk supply – including dehydration, exhaustion, illness, low suction from the baby or even the stress of returning to work.
Despite her trials, Oakley looks back fondly at the strong bond she developed with her daughter through breast-feeding. “The best advice I had gotten regarding breast-feeding was that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” she said. “My suggestion to new working moms would be to gradually introduce formula into the diet.”
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