Parenting: Breastfeed

Would you love to pump your milk at work, but don’t know how to raise the subject with your manager? Do you worry about how your co-workers would react to breastmilk in the office refrigerator? If you have always wondered how you might continue to breastfeed when you go back to work, read on.

An increasing number of women are refusing to accept that the end of maternity leave means an end to breastfeeding. And the good news is that these mothers work in all sectors of the economy, in a variety of challenging jobs. They have one thing in common -- they refuse to let their careers get in the way of their decision to carry on breastfeeding.

Making the Decision to Continue Nursing When Returning to Work
For women who breastfeed, returning to work can be an enormous psychological hurdle. Many mothers choose to wean their babies onto formula at this time, either because they believe it is their only option, or because they don’t know how to go about expressing milk in the workplace.

But the decision to slow down or stop milk production can be a hard one. If you believe that breastfeeding is right for your baby, it is often painful and upsetting to switch to infant formula, especially if your baby does not take well either to the bottle or the strange milk. Expressing your milk at work ensures that your strong physical bond with your baby can carry on for as long as you want it to, and that your child can continue to benefit from the benefits of breastmilk.

Approaches to Nursing or Pumping at Work
Mothers who work and who express their milk have a number of different approaches. Some pump during the day and breastfeed at home; others go to their baby’s caregiver to nurse during the lunch hour and rely on formula at other times. But all have overcome the problems of helping their managers and co-workers to see them as a productive employee as well as a nursing mother.

Women from a variety of unlikely occupations have succeeded in pumping their milk in the workplace.

"Once I returned to work, I sat down with my boss and explained that I was nursing," says Silverlene Johnson Kindle, a former military officer from Atlanta. "He was very supportive but there was no private place for me to pump my milk. I just had to put modesty aside and pump in the ladies’ restroom." Silverlene continued to successfully express her milk three times daily for her son for a whole year.

Other women take a different approach, and are less open about their plans.

"I didn’t tell my manager or my co-workers that I was expressing milk at work," says Dilys Wynn, a former nuclear industry human resources manager. "It was a male-dominated industry and it would have been too embarrassing. My working environment was very safety-conscious and we had a well-appointed medical suite. I just told the medical staff what I was doing and used one of the private medical offices to pump my milk at lunchtimes."

Your Rights
Your rights to lactation support at work vary from state to state. Many large corporations have positive policies to encourage breastfeeding, and some states have enacted laws which require employers to make positive provisions for nursing employees. The best-known "good practice" states include Florida, Minnesota and Texas; contact your local La Leche League chapter for further details about your rights where you live.

In the absence of supportive laws in your state, you may find that your employer is committed to the positive environmental impact of breastfeeding. Fiona Narburgh works as a sustainability expert at a British County Council. "I wanted to feed my baby during my lunch break," says Fiona. "My employers were supportive to the principle and my husband, who is the main caregiver for our two sons, brought my baby to me to feed most days." This kind of support is rare, but you should remember that many corporations have environmental stewardship plans and can be convinced of the positive eco-benefits of breastfeeding and work. Many service sector companies have policies to support customers who breastfeed; remind them that these should apply to staff, too.

Making Breastfeeding Work at Work
Some key factors emerge in making breastfeeding and work a success. Many women agree that determination and good personal organization are key factors for working, nursing moms. "You must be confident that what you are doing is best for your baby, and you must supply the inventiveness to make it work," says Dilys Wynn. "It is up to you to work out where to pump, where to chill and store your milk and how to schedule work breaks that coincide with let-down times. If your employer can help with that, it’s a bonus."

Don’t expect your employer to know how to help you, however good their employee diversity or work/life program may be. Like all successful employment negotiations, both sides have to make an effort. Begin a dialog with your manager early on, and make it clear that you intend to succeed with your plan to pump milk. Get help from your human resources department, La Leche League, a breastfeeding counselor or union chapter if necessary. Let your employer know how long you will need to express (15 to 20 minutes each pumping session is usual) and offer to forgo your coffee break to do it, if necessary.

If all else fails, you might want to remind your employer that expressing your milk takes less time than the average smoker takes in breaks each day to indulge his or her habit. You can protect your health and your baby’s health by continuing to breastfeed when you return to work -- and there aren’t many activities that you can do on your employer’s premises that are so good for you, your baby and your employer’s bottom line.