Mothers return to work for so many different reasons: financial need, emotional fulfillment, loyalty to an employer, or another equally personal decision. I have never spoken with a mother who did not experience a sense of sadness and emotional tug-of-war when making the decision whether or not to return to work.
For mothers who have been breastfeeding during maternity leave, deciding whether or not to return to work is not the only decision that must be made. They also have to decide whether they will continue to breastfeed if or when they return to work.
One third of working women are still nursing at six months, compared to 42% of stay-at-home moms of six month old babies. Breastfeeding can be challenging, but when combined with the additional challenges of balancing a job and work requirements, it can be discouragingly difficult for many moms.
One way that I believe more working moms can continue breastfeeding their babies is through education. Education for moms and education for employers, fellow employees, and the public at large. While I truly believe that breastfeeding is a choice each mother must make for herself and her baby, I also truly believe that our society sabotages moms before they are even able to get started. One of my primary aims with this series of posts is to help educate moms, provide support, and offer encouragement that it is possible to continue to breastfeed after returning to the workplace.
In
Part 1, I discussed how other people, even other mothers, can derail us before we are even able to attempt working and continuing nursing. It's important to acknowledge the challenges involved in pumping at work, however, it's equally important to encourage mothers that it is indeed possible.
There are steps that pregnant women should take before leaving for maternity leave, as examined in
Part 2. While it is true that women may decide not to return to work while on maternity leave, or decide not to breastfeed at all or after returning to work, it's easiest and safest to start the process before leaving rather than wait until the last minute.
I could write so much information on breastfeeding. There will be a gap in information between
Part 2 and Part 3 regarding starting nursing your baby. As this series is meant to focus on the working and pumping mother, I am not providing tips for the beginning portions of breastfeeding a newborn.
Kellymom is a fabulous resource, and please check out this page for articles about
getting started nursing a newborn.
Preparing to Return to Work
1. Decide if you are going to return to work, and if so, if you will be pumping.
The decision to return to work after having a baby is very personal, and not one that can be made simply by reading a list based on another's experience. Every mother has to make the choice that is best for herself, her baby, and her family. My only advice is to weigh your options, discuss financial concerns, consider your future career plans (leaving the work force for a time may possibly impact your future career goals), and, above all, your personal feelings.
On the subject of returning to work and deciding whether or not to pump, I highly, highly encourage you to give it a try. The worst that will happen is it won't work out; the best that can happen is that it works perfectly; and somewhere in the middle is where many of us pumping mothers find ourselves- not perfect, but making it happen the best we can and it's much better than nothing.
I know of pumping mothers with jobs in the military, the food service industry, the retail industry, the medical industry. Some moms pump in their offices while others pump in their cubicles. Some moms pump on their breaks from the factory floor while other moms pump on their breaks from their classroom. I acknowledge that some work environments are more conducive to pumping than others, but I think that many of us can find ways to make it work (channeling Tim Gunn).
In any case, please reach out for help and assistance. You don't have to make this journey alone. I personally found the
Kellymom community to be an endless source of advice and support.
2. While you are home with your baby, nurse, nurse and nurse some more. Establishing a milk supply takes time and, well, nursing.
For any nursing mother, whether returning to work or staying home, the first 6-8 weeks are a critical time for establishing a milk supply. This is actually something I didn't really realize until I was in the midst of it.
Breastmilk is digested at a faster rate than formula. Newborns need to nurse anywhere between
8-12 times in a 24 hour period, but this also can vary between babies; some may nurse far more frequently (as I discovered with mine). Also, a nursing session may last between 45 minutes to an hour.
While it can be overwhelming to spend so much time nursing, it is critical to teach your body how much milk it needs to produce. These first few months are, in my opinion, the foundation for the remainder of your breastfeeding and pumping success. Although it seems difficult, remember, it is only a couple months in an entire lifespan; the cleaning, cooking, running errands- it can all wait. I promise it will go by faster than you realize.
If you decide to rent a hospital grade, contact the hospital and arrange for the rental. You can have someone pick it up for you, but it may be beneficial to do it yourself so that you can ask questions and see how it operates. My hospital was willing to show me how to use it, help me determine how to select the correct size of breast shields (very important; detailed information and pictures for selecting the correct size can be found
here), give me tips on pumping, and explain how to store my milk.
4. Practice pumping. Don't wait to start working with your pump. Start as soon as possible to make sure the pump works, to be sure you have the right breast shields, and to figure out how to pump. It can feel awkward at first, much as nursing does when you first start. With more practice, it will become easier.
When you first start pumping, don't be surprised if you don't get much milk. This is entirely normal. You spent weeks or months establishing your milk supply with your baby (see number 1) and your body knows now how much to make. Pumping in addition to feeding your baby will not produce very much at all.
5. Build up an emergency supply of milk.
Doing some pumping on maternity leave is more than just for practice. It allows you to build up a supply for those days when you don't get a chance to pump as much because a meeting ran long, your supply is low due to an illness, or you accidentally dump 4 ounces of freshly pumped milk on the ground when you are trying to close the top of the bags.
Some women find it effective to nurse on one side and pump the other side. Others pump in between feedings when baby is napping.
I'll be perfectly honest: I had every intention of doing this, but didn't store up more than 10 or 12 ounces. My daughter nursed, quite literally, around the clock. I returned to work when she was 7 weeks old. During my short maternity leave, I simply couldn't handle anymore than I was already doing. The two or three hours a day out of the entire 24-hour period that my daughter was not nursing, I slept. Looking back, I really wish I had pumped more of a stock, but being realistic, I know that it was just too much for me on top of what I was already doing.
So my personal opinion on this is to do what you can do. If it's too much for you, don't pressure yourself. It's like in sports: push yourself to your limit, then just a little past that point, but not so far that you are injured. Don't push yourself past your breaking point; it's not healthy for either you or your baby. Do what you can do.
6. Follow correct breastmilk storage guidelines.
I recommend storing bags of only 2-3 ounces. Once thawed, breastmilk must be used up within 24 hours and cannot be refrozen. Storing in small amounts prevents waste of that precious "liquid gold."
Make sure not to store the milk in the freezer door as it can be affected by freeze-thaw cycles in this location.
Milk can be stored in the refrigerator (again, not in the door) for to up to 5 days.
Just as a note, although it is rare, some mothers produce excess lipase in their breastmilk. This can cause the milk to develop a different taste after 24 hours. Freezing does not remove this taste. Most infants are not bothered by it, but some are. If you are planning on building a very large stockpile, it would behoove you (I so love that word!) to make sure you do not have this issue prior to stockpiling over 100 ounces of milk and then finding out your baby won't drink it (true story, just not mine).
7. Get your baby used to taking a bottle approximately 2 weeks prior to your return to work.
This is another grey area for me. Some women have a lengthy maternity leave and are able to wait until the baby is several months old before they introduce a bottle.
The general advice is to exclusively nurse for 4 weeks so as not to cause confusion between bottle and breast and possibly derail nursing. But you should introduce a bottle approximately 2 weeks before you return to work (Source:
Dr Sears). This falls right in line with 6 weeks of maternity leave
if you didn't use up any of your six weeks prior to giving birth. If you did, this timeline might not work for you.
For me, I was genuinely concerned about introducing the bottle too early because we had struggled so in the beginning with establishing nursing. I waited until just a few days before I returned to work and had my husband introduce the bottle. (It works best if someone besides the nursing mother introduces the bottle.) Paityn wasn't enthused at first, and I was nervous that she wouldn't take a bottle while I was gone. However, things ended up working out, and she did take bottles while I was gone.
To prepare for this, I started back at work on a Wednesday, and only went back for a couple hours each day. This way, if Paityn was still struggling with using a bottle, I wouldn't be away from her for long.
8. Purchase bottles and test run the different brands to determine which one suits your child.
A bottle is a bottle, right? Wrong. They are vastly different, and what works for one baby doesn't necessarily work for another.
We went through several different bottle types before we found the kind that suited Paityn (
Dr Brown's). We found a lot of bottles produced a very fast flow, which a breastfed child isn't typically used to handling. It is a trial and error experience, so don't invest in a large number of bottles before you are sure you have found the brand and type that works for your baby. Every baby is unique in needs; Paityn had acid reflux, so the Dr Brown's style seemed to help prevent the flare-up she experienced with the other types.
One issue I had immediately was the opposite of what I had expected; Paityn preferred the ease of the bottle to nursing and fussed when I would try to nurse her. A simple switch of bottle nipples solved this; we changed out to use preemie nipples, which produced a much slower flow. We used preemie nipples for the entire year she used bottles.
9. Choose a breastfeeding friendly caregiver.
This is key, and involves careful research on the part of both parents. I had no idea how much of a struggle breastfeeding moms can have with caregivers and expressed milk. I read stories on mom boards again and again of the frustration moms dealt with working with caregivers inexperienced with expressed breastmilk fed babies.
Formula is a satisfactory option for feeding babies. But formula and breastmilk are not equal. If your caregiver tries to feed your baby the same way they feed the formula-fed babies (same milk amount, same size bottles, same number of times), it will likely set you up, as a pumping mother, for a great deal of stress. A formula-fed baby will likely consume greater amounts in a single feeding with feedings spread further apart.
It is important that you determine how much milk your baby will need while away from you. Breastfeeding moms need to
calculate how much their specific baby (it differs depending on your baby's average number of daily feedings) needs for each feeding, how many hours apart, and how many times. Only send in the amount of breastmilk your baby needs already divided out into bottles with the correct amount in each bottle. One small extra bottle in case you get caught at work or in traffic should also be considered.
During the last few weeks of maternity leave, start keeping track of when your baby nurses so that you will be able to do this calculation. Keep in mind that baby's needs change as they grow (growth spurts), so you will need to remain aware of their eating habits and adjust the expressed milk you provide for feedings accordingly.
10. Contact your boss and discuss the plans you made regarding pumping before you left on your maternity leave.
Verify that the plans you made are still in place. This is a good time to gently remind your boss of your needs. As discussed in
Part 2, verify time, location, and storage.
11. Enjoy these last weeks or days with your baby.
I made the personal choice to return to work for a variety of reasons. And I'm glad that I did. However, it was not easy to leave my daughter to return to work, and it didn't get any easier for a very long time.
In the days leading up to your return to work, try not to stress out over your return. Focus on your baby and enjoying the time you have right then, in the present moment. Don't worry about house-cleaning or errands or making elaborate dinners (there's no shame in frozen chicken nuggets and microwave broccoli or even having your partner or a friend pick you up takeout on the way home).
You aren't a bad mother for going back to work. Don't let guilt overcome you. For whatever reasons you have for returning to work, you know you didn't make the decision lightly and without thought for your child.
For me, personally, the decision to return to work but continue to breastfeed helped me feel that much better about going back. I felt as though I was showing a commitment to my daughter; even though I was not her only caretaker, I was providing something for her that no one else could provide. When I returned to work, it really helped to carry that big black pumping bag with me and set my mind to continuing our nursing relationship in spite of being apart.
Next up: Tips from One Working and Nursing Mom to Another - Part 4: Pumping and Working
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I'm linking up this post with Oh Amanda's Top Ten Tuesday.
