Spokane7
42°
Shortly after returning to work from maternity leave, my boss asked me to travel to Olympia for an assignment. It was just a day trip but I still was faced with a dilemma. At that time, I had to pump milk for my baby about two times during the workday (it usually took only 15 minutes each time — I also never took coffee breaks and I ate lunch at my desk so the pumping never took time away from work). I was lucky to work for a company that had a designated room for breastfeeding moms, but I couldn’ stick to my routine during my business trip. The courthouse where I was supposed to be covering a story didn’t have a similar room for breastfeeding moms.
I was torn. On one hand, I wanted to tell my boss that I couldn’t go on the trip and that she needed to find someone else. At the same time, I didn’t want to seem incapacitated and incapable of doing my job.
I ended up going to Olympia for the day with my breast pump. Fortunately, a colleague was able to find a room in a nearby building for me to use. I had to “pump and dump” instead of bringing milk home for my child because the airlines weren’t too keen on carry-on liquids. Despite that, it was a still a huge relief for health reasons.
I’m sharing this personal bit of information because of a post on the Washington Post’s Juggle, a blog for parents who juggle careers while raising children. In “The Economic Consequences of Breastfeeding,” reporter Ruth Mantell discussed why she decided not to pump milk at work.
“I’m well aware that breast milk is considered the optimal food for babies. That’s why I happily nursed for the past six months, ” she wrote. “But working moms may face stiff penalties for breastfeeding, a price that I’m not sure my family can afford. My job’s irregular schedule makes it impractical to pump milk at work. And given that my husband and I have financial goals, such as saving for retirement and a healthy portion of our daughter’s education costs, I don’t want to quit or downshift my career to accommodate a regular pumping or breastfeeding schedule.”
Mantell also interviewed Phyllis Rippeyoung, a sociology professor at Acadia University who’s also doing research on the economic consequences imposed on women who choose to nurse their babies. Rippeyoung noted that women who breastfeed for more than six months experienced steep declines in income “mainly due to their increased likelihood of reducing their work hours or quitting.”
Moms: Were you able to continue breastfeeding when you returned to work? Did your decision to continue nursing your child affect your finances?
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dsmart on March 15 at 8:44 a.m.
This is rare (never happened before) but I have to respond. As a mother of 3 grown children, I breastfed all three. In 1976, there were no breast pumps; nor were there any options in 1982 and 1986. I breastfed each child for 3.5, 2.5, and 1.8+ years, respectively. I also worked ful time with all 3 children even though La Leche League leaders (in 2 different states-Florida and Alaska) tried to tell me that I was a “bad” mother for working. I was fully committed to breastfeeding for health reasons (asthma, eczema, and allergies were rampant on my side of the family). The down side (if one could say that) to breastfeeding and not pumping during the day, was to nurse during the evening and be 100% available during the night time.
Breastfeeding and working gave me the confidence to help other women and many years later become a certified lactation consultant. I was sought after by other health care providers to provide tips and advise to young mothers who faced the same dilema. At least now there are good/excellent quality pumps.
At times my husband could bring the baby to my work site so I could nurse once during the day, but at -50 degree F, it was a rare but delightful occasion. My co-workers did not discriminate and the work environment was not hostile. I am aware that women do make career choices and many must return to work, and the work place can be a non-inviting setting to pump or store milk. Many womem do quit breastfeeding because of returning to work but these are the very women who need to continue to breastfeed. The health and psychological/emotional benefits far outweigh the short-term disadvantages of maintaining a milk supply while at work due to any work setting issues. If more of us continued with breastfeeding then it would become the “norm” not the rare case. A culture of breastfeeding means that young women are exposed at all stages of their life to seeing and knowing of women who breastfeed under all circumstances.
Breastmilk is far superior to artificial formula (cows milk or soy based). Each day or week or month or year that an infant is breastfed offers its own unique and life long advantages along the way that remain with the infant throughout their life.
mdibclc on March 15 at 8:58 a.m.
Combining employment outside the home and breastfeeding can be challenging, but there is growing support as more and more data show that supporting nursing moms is good for the “bottom line” for businesses. Businesses that provide comprehenisive lactation support retain their employees postpartum, have lower health care costs in the first year of the baby’s life, and have fewer work days lost due to sick days for both infant and parental illness. The Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington (www.breastfeedingwa.org) is starting to work with businesses to help them develop lactation support programs. But individual moms, with some support and planning, can work with their own employers to develop a plan that will work for them to be able to continue to nurse their babies and/or express milk for them. Neither businesses nor mothers need to lose money to support breastfeeding—in fact, breastfeeding saves money for businesses and households.
My “baby” will soon be 20, but I did feed him exclusively breastmilk despite returning to work. As a physician, I was a professional with a private office and some control of my schedule, but it was still a challenge at times. I had great support from my son’s father (who even brought him for middle of the night feedings when I was stuck at the hospital) and from his day care provider. And I did cut back on my work hours, but that had less to do with the fact of breastfeeding and more to do with discovering that I really wanted to parent my own child.
Congrats to you for figuring out how to make it work for you. We need to continue to stand up for our babies’ right to receive our milk and our rights to provide it. And, by the way, the TSA has changed its policy and you can now take human milk on airplanes even when you are not traveling with your baby!
And I’ll just mention the fact that we are the only Western, industrialized country that doesn’t provide adequate PAID maternity leave to allow mothers to get breastfeeding off to an optimal start….Very few women in our society can afford the “economic consequences” of even short maternity leaves, adjusted hours, or choosing to stay home for that first 6-12 months. We haven’t chosen to make this a societal value.
michelled on March 16 at 2:00 p.m.
As a currently breastfeeding mom, I find the excuse that there isn’t time rather silly. Law stipulates that you get breaks at work, if you have no other time to pump you can pump during your breaks. I know several women who have done just that. For me, pumping typically took 10-15 minutes including clean up. I am no longer pumping as my daughter (11 months) is now only nursing before bed and eating solids the rest of the time. But, I did pump for several months at work. I am lucky enough to have had a space where I could have privacy to do this but I know some women who pump in their car with a nursing shawl to cover up because they have no place at work to pump.
The argument over the money lost to take time to pump really surprised me. That’s not one I’ve heard before. Look at the cost of formula. Plus what is a little income now compared to something that is infinitely better for your baby.
Also, there are now laws protecting pumping/breastfeeding mothers against discrimination in the workplace and other public places. If you need help talking to your employer contact the La Leche League. I would recommend talking to your employer about this when you talk to them about maternity leave and returning from maternity leave.
Even if, for some reason, you are unable to pump while at work that doesn’t mean that you can’t breastfeed the rest of the time and suppliment with formula. Every feeding that you can do helps the child.
Good luck to all.
Hobinrood on March 20 at 3:20 p.m.
I had to return to work when my baby was just 2 weeks old. It was brutal, and I don’t recommend it to anyone. But I was able to exclusively breast feed without a drop of formula until she was over 2 years old. We had the help of a wonderful herbal supplement called Lactiful Capsules (http://lactiful.com) that allowed me to pump quickly and effectively. I had a very busy schedule with work - but was still able to pump, and make the commitments necessary to ensure that my daughter always had milk. I’d nurse her at the breast whenever I could, and pump whenever I couldn’t.
There are devices now that can help you pump hands free, so alot of times for me, I pumped while I worked at my desk. I also pumped while I drove in my car. (I just pulled my shirt down over the pumping apparatus!) So, I never suffered any loss of wage for breast feeding. There’s the cost of the pump, the cost of the Lactiful Capsules that I chose to take. But all that is far, far less than the cost of formula.
I also read a quote recently:
“A study of Working Well Moms, CIGNA’s corporate lactation program for employees who breastfeed, revealed a savings of $240 thousand annually in health care expenses for breastfeeding mothers and their children.” UCLA Study
There are laws in many states now relating to allowing women time to pump, and some laws regarding providing an adequate place to pump. Not all states have them, but you can see about yours at: http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabId=14389
Breast feeding is wonderful, and beautiful, but it is also very challenging. I think if any mother is already making the sacrifice to take care of her family by working, we all need to support her in helping her to be able to pump milk for her baby while she is away - and help her maintain her nursing relationship. Once you start giving formula, it’s a slippery slope, and an expensive one.