Before Birth, After Birth and Once You Return to Work
By Kelly Burgess
When Katie Young of Austin, Texas, found out she was pregnant with her third child, she had just started a job she loved, and she didn’t want to quit. However, she wanted to breastfeed this child for a year, like she had done with her other two. It almost turned into a disaster right away.
“I had never really pumped before and figured that one pump was just as good as another, so I bought a little hand-held one,” Young says. “I couldn’t express enough milk to feed a kitten, much less my big boy.”
At this point, it was just a week before Young’s six-week maternity leave would end. In desperation, she called her local La Leche League and was given information on good, battery-operated breast pumps. Although it wasn’t always easy, Young was able to give her baby breast milk for his first year.
Planning for Pumping
Because Young did not work when her two oldest were infants, she never had to deal with pumping at work and hadn’t really planned for it. Jane Balkam, a certified lactation consultant, says planning is the single most important factor in successfully continuing breastfeeding after returning to work. Balkam’s lactation consulting practice, Babies ‘N Business, specializes in providing support for mothers who wish to breastfeed their babies while continuing to work and advises companies on setting up nursing-friendly environments for new mothers.
“A woman needs to start talking with her employer even before she goes on maternity leave,” Balkam says. “More companies are beginning to understand that it’s in their best interest to support new moms who want to breastfeed – not just because it’s nice, but breastfed babies are healthier, which results in lower health costs, less turnover and fewer sick days.”
Specifically, a mother-to-be needs to inquire if there is a formal program in place for nursing mothers. If not, she needs to ask if the company would be willing to arrange for her to have a private area in which to nurse. According to Balkam, this area would ideally have a sink for washing nursing equipment and a lock for the door.
In addition to talking with her employer, a woman should make contacts within the nursing community. These contacts can give tips on talking with the woman’s employer and provide materials for the woman to show her employer if they are unfamiliar with nursing programs. These contacts are people who can help the woman learn as much as possible about breastfeeding so that she’s less likely to have problems and will be more comfortable getting started. After the baby is born, these contacts will be knowledgeable sources for advice on all aspects of breastfeeding.
After Birth
More and more hospitals have lactation resources available to new mothers, and that’s something you should take advantage of. Again, this helps the mother establish a good nursing relationship, and Balkam says that this is the single most important facet of breastfeeding – whether you’re a working mother or not.
Kathleen Bruce, a board certified lactation consultant, agrees. Bruce works for Medela, a company that makes products for breastfeeding and sponsors the Corporate Lactation Program. 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 weeks, however, it’s probably a good idea to start pumping and offering a bottle about every other day or so. By this point, it’s important to purchase a high-quality electric breast pump that will efficiently empty the breasts of milk. However, Balkam warns that offering too many bottles is not a good idea, simply because it’s not the same as having the baby nurse.
“The body makes milk in response to the amount of milk removed, so the more the baby asks for and receives, the more the body is going to make,” she says. “If you’re substituting something else for feeding at the breast, that interferes with the body making more milk. It’s very important for women to understand that if they’re giving a bottle of formula or even pumped milk at 2 a.m. so they can sleep, that interferes with their milk supply.”
Bruce says it’s the same principle after Mom goes back to work, which is why it’s important to pump at least three times per day. What’s even better is if a new mother can pump twice a day and somehow nurse her child at lunchtime. This can be arranged if an employer has on-site daycare or if the baby’s caregiver is willing to bring Baby to Mom.
As for easing back into the routine of work, Bruce recommends going back on a Wednesday and working half days up to and including the following Wednesday. The overall effect of this approach is to give the mother and baby nearly two weeks to ease into the full-time work routine.
Like many adventures in mothering, this isn’t always easy, but it can be done. Melissa Leeb of Chicago, Ill., recalls having to pump in a bathroom stall after her youngest was born in 1993. “It wasn’t ideal, but I was determined to make it work,” says Leeb, who now works in public relations for Medela, one of the first manufacturing companies to establish a workplace lactation program. “Things have changed a lot since those days, but even if my employer wasn’t all that helpful, I would explore all the possibilities before I just gave up. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
