Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

Deciding between breast- and formula-feeding can be a huge struggle for many mothers. And when you work outside the home, there’s a whole new set of considerations. Will my boss be okay with it? Can I find a decent place to pump? Will I remember to bring my supplies to work every day? If you decide to breastfeed and have a career outside the home, the first thing you’ll need is determination. The second thing you need is a realistic look at what it’s like - not to discourage you, but to prepare you.

Get the Best Equipment
With a new baby on the way (or here already), you’re undoubtedly looking for any way to save a buck. But if you plan to pump several times a day, skimping on a quality breast pump is not a good idea. You’ll be under a time crunch whenever you pump, so you’ll want to buy a dual electric pump, meaning that both breasts will be drained at the same time, and the electric action will get the job done much quicker than a manual pump. There are several quality brands out there, so ask some girlfriends who have breastfed which brand they would recommend and why. You can also rent pumps from a hospital or medical supply store to help you make a decision.

Next, you’ll need a cold place to store those bags full of milk. If you have use of an office refrigerator, that should solve your problem. If not, you’ll need to bring your own mini-cooler and transport it back and forth to work every day.

Consider Your Work Conditions
There are laws in place to protect a mother’s right to pump at work, but they don’t ensure that the boss has to like it. And depending on how much the boss doesn’t like it, he or she can make your daily work life difficult, which, in turn, can be a huge factor in whether you’re successful in pumping. Some bosses are very encouraging of their employees pumping because they know that babies who are breastfed are sick less often, and that means their employees miss work less often.

But most bosses are lukewarm to the idea at best, afraid that your work will suffer because of the time you need to pump. Be prepared to make some allowances, especially in the beginning when you’re new to pumping and before your baby starts on solid food. Those allowances might be working some overtime to make up for the extra minutes you’re away from your desk or actually doing paperwork while you’re pumping. 

If you’re lucky enough to have a one-hour lunch - and your boss allows you to break it up into chunks of pumping time - that still probably won’t cover all of the time you’ll need to pump at work for the first few months. Your boss has every right to demand that you work a full eight-hour (or whatever your contract dictates) day, though you would hope he or she would show some leeway for a valued employee.

In addition to your boss’ attitude, there’s the more practical issue of where you’ll pump. Some larger firms have special pumping rooms for nursing mothers, though even this can pose problems. “My company employs 5,000 people in one building, and there was only one pumping room,” says Rachel, 25. “It was so far away from my desk that by the time I got there, I had wasted 10 minutes of pumping time.”

Women who have a private pumping space are lucky, but even they don’t always have it easy. “I have my own office, so I can simply close the door when I need to pump,” says Laura, 30. “But one time I forgot to lock the door, and my boss just charged in with a pile of paperwork for me. After getting an eyeful, though, he never made that mistake again. The thing I can’t get over is that even a closed - and locked - door doesn’t stop my less-sensitive co-workers from practically demanding to know why they can’t come into my office. I’m a pumping mother, and the door is closed - figure it out!”

The third option is pumping in a public bathroom, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds. If it’s a one-stall bathroom, your female co-workers might take issue with you making their only bathroom unavailable for a half-hour at a time. If it’s a larger bathroom, you’ll have to deal with other women walking in and out while you’re trying to pump. A nursing shawl or blanket may help preserve your modesty while you express your baby’s next meal. But you’ll also have to look into the practical matters of whether there’s an outlet into which you can plug your pump and - very importantly - is there a place for you to sit?

How’s Your Support System?
Even though your husband isn’t at work with you, having his support when you’re pumping is crucial. There are going to be days when you feel like giving up, and the response you get from your spouse can mean the difference between throwing in the towel and trying it for a while longer.

When you need to vent about your crappy boss giving you attitude about pumping or how many times someone came into the bathroom while you were expressing milk, hearing words of support - rather than, “If it’s so terrible, just quit” - is really important. So while you’re considering whether to pump or not, talk to your spouse about his feelings. Is he willing to do everything he can to support you? Does he not really care one way or the other? Or does he wonder why you’d go to all that trouble when formula is perfectly fine? Tell him that this is important to you, and you would appreciate his full support. If he’s not on board, decide whether you can get through the rough patches alone.

Getting Baby (and Babysitter) Ready
You’ll need to plan to introduce your baby to a bottle about two weeks before you go back to work. This gives your baby enough time to adjust and gives you both adequate wiggle room to work out any kinks. It also allows your baby to get used to the switching between breast and bottle several times a day.

Once you start pumping, you’ll realize how precious your expressed milk is. Try to impress upon your babysitter the importance of not wasting breast milk - leaving it out to spoil, feeding your baby when he’s not really hungry (thereby making the leftover portion unusable), etc. And also, if you need to feed your baby the moment you walk in the door, ask your babysitter to try not to feed the baby for about an hour and a half before you arrive (using her best judgment of course).

“I have a private nanny for my son, and she’s great, but she’s never had a baby and doesn’t realize the agony of engorged breasts. When I get home from work, I need to feed my son, and there were several occasions where she had just given him a bottle of breast milk, so of course he wasn’t hungry. Finally, I had a heart-to-heart with her and explained why it was so important that, if possible, he be ready to eat when I get home.”

Know When to Say When
No matter how much support you have from your spouse, boss, and co-workers, there’s no getting around the fact that pumping at work is difficult - and it’s especially difficult to keep up for an extended period of time. Yes, breastfeeding is best, but what your baby needs most is a happy mother. If you’re feeling stress all day from trying to fit pumping into your hectic work schedule or getting constant static from an unhappy boss, you’re likely to carry that stress home with you. This can result not only in a decreased milk supply, but in an unhappy mom and a cranky baby who can sense your stress.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it could be time to consider that you may not be able to keep up this pace any longer. There are a couple of solutions that can help relieve your stress. The first is to depend on formula during the day while you’re at work. You can still enjoy two or three feedings with your baby in the morning and at night, but you won’t have to worry about pumping. The risk with this option is that your milk supply may dwindle to the point where you won’t be able to maintain enough milk to breastfeed when you are home, so if you choose to try this, you’ll have to be prepared to quit nursing completely if it doesn’t work.

The second option, of course, is to wean your baby completely and rely on formula for the rest of your baby’s first year. After investing so much time and energy into trying to make pumping work, it can be wrenching for mothers to admit that they need to switch to formula-feeding. Jamie, 42, says she felt like a failure.

“I knew from the moment I got pregnant that I wanted to nurse my baby. There’s nothing wrong with formula, but I’ve always believed in the benefits of breast milk. But after six harrowing months of pumping in a crowded ladies’ room and constantly reassuring my boss that pumping was not interfering with my work, I was a stressed-out mess by the time I got home to my husband and daughter every night. After talking about it with my husband, we both decided that it would be best for everyone to put our daughter on formula. I’m really glad that I was able to hang in as long as I was with pumping, but it was also a relief when I was done.”

Breastfeeding is a wonderful gift for your baby, and it’s certainly possible to juggle nursing and your career. It may take a few weeks to put together a routine that works for you and accommodates your boss, but keep at it. And if you find that you simply can’t, try not to feel guilty. There will be plenty of other things that cause mommy-guilt!