Breastfeeding and Work: 08/31/07
The Moms Rising Blog wants to hear about experiences of breastfeeding from working mothers. Rather than put my answer in their comment field, I thought I'd expand things a bit here.

I have two children and I've breastfed both of them. With Sean I was at my previous job. They had rooms set aside for pumping and resting. The rooms had power outlets but no water for washing up. I had to pump twice a day for eight of the ten months I was breastfeeding Sean. I hated pumping at work.

The rooms had online sign up sheets and the company policy was that pregnant women and women who needed to pump got priority on the rooms. Reality, though, was very different. The room I had to use was located in the sales wing of the building. There was always a salesman in there making a high stakes call because he could close the door so the others couldn't hear how well he was doing or who he was calling.

I quickly harnessed my inner mama grizzly bear. Boy could I growl and pound on the door until the jerk got out of there. I also got called a lot of colorful names. It didn't make for a restful state of mind for pumping. Pumping is easier when one is calm. I'd waste a good five or ten minutes just trying to calm down enough so I could pump.

So when I found out I was pregnant with Harriet, the one thing I was dreading most was pumping again. With my new job I wouldn't have access to a room for pumping and the bathroom didn't have a power source. I concocted this elaborate plan for bringing along a portable car charger to run my pump but in the end a better solution fell into my lap.

I was offered the chance to telecommute. To sweeten the deal, I countered with offering to telecommute during my maternity leave because I knew I'd be bored and there isn't anything physically demanding about being a web producer (beyond lugging around computer equipment every now or then).

With telecommuting I didn't have to pump for the nine months I breastfed Harriet. Weaning early was her idea, not mine. While it isn't exactly easy to nurse and type at the same time, it was a lot less stressful than fighting the overly macho salesforce for a spot in the pumping room.

moms rising | breastfeeding

Comments (3)

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Comment #1: Sunday, September, 2, 2007 at 13:53:40

qualcosa di bello says:
"brava sarah! in my former life i was a lactation consultant & your post does my heart good :)"

Comment #2: Thursday, September, 6, 2007 at 21:51:12

Marilyn says:
"I was in graduate school for biology... ecotoxicology to be exact. I breastfed for the first three months... going to school only part time. Then I had to stop because I began working in the toxicology lab. I don't think I would hav had the guts to throw a sales guy out of the pumping room. "

Comment #3: Thursday, September, 13, 2007 at 03:40:08

Grace says:
"I breastfed my daughter until she was 2! When she was 6 months old, I had to go back to work so I pumped at night, store the milk in the fridge. Everyday I had to go home at lunchtime because there was no pumping station in my office and I couldn't bear the pain in my breasts. It was an overwhelming experience (both good and bad) but I am glad I did it."