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Expressing and Storing Breastmilk: A Working Mother's Guide
Wear clothes that will allow you to pump easily and quickly at work. Blouses and dresses with a print design will camouflage leaks, which can be hard to avoid.
Johanne was lucky enough to be a prolific pumper and was capable of expressing 10 ounces of milk in 10 minutes (including the time it took to clean and put away her electric breast pump)! Most nursing mothers cannot express that much milk in such a short time and should not be disappointed to see just a few ounces after 10 minutes. Keep in mind that stress and nervousness about pumping can affect the let-down reflex, making it difficult to get any milk at all. Relaxation techniques such as shoulder rolls, deep breaths, pictures of baby or a tape recording of baby suckling may help milk flow.
In addition to pumping at work, the nursing mother extraordinaire spent her lunch hour at her daycare provider's home where she was able to nurse her son. Johanne says, "Books and articles shower us with medical reasons to breastfeed our babies, from immunities to intelligence. For myself, I found that the added effort to nurse my baby helped me to overcome my own separation anxiety from him that returning to work had brought about -- not to mention the benefits that skin-to-skin offers both the baby and the mother. What a glorious break from the tedium of the business world to cuddle your baby, breathe deep the scent of him and to feel him melt into your arms.
