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Home › Articles › Pumps and Pumping › Planning to Pump

Planning to Pump

Before Birth, After Birth and Once You Return to Work

By Kelly Burgess

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. Bruce estimates that she answers 600 to 700 questions a month on breastfeeding. She sees our American "I can do it all!" mentality as being harmful to a woman trying to establish breastfeeding.

"Nursing is like driving," Bruce says. "You definitely want driving lessons before someone plunks you down in Times Square. It's important to build these support systems beforehand because women in America – and this seems even more prevalent among women employed outside the home – feel like they have to do everything alone."

Bruce says building a support system beforehand will make it less likely that the woman will quit when the going gets tough. Furthermore, she says the first month should be a time of focusing on the baby to the exclusion of as much else as possible, and this support system can help her do so.

When friends or family come over, instead of letting them sit and hold the baby, ask them to vacuum or do other small chores. Ask a teenage neighbor to watch a toddler while Mom naps with Baby. Keep the baby close at night so that breastfeeding is easy. Get Dad to become a partner in this idea that breastfeeding is the first great thing you can do for your child.

Returning to Work
Both Balkam and Bruce agree that pumping should not even enter into the picture until about a month after the baby is born. The first four weeks should be about establishing a good supply of breast milk and getting the baby completely comfortable with nursing. At four wee
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