Pump It UP Working Moms

Breastfeeding at work  has been on my mind for a couple of months. During the summer I happened to  chat  with a new mom who told me a story about her good friend who was asked to go across the street from her office to pump her milk. The woman worked for a legislator. When I asked if she would be willing to chat with me about the situation, she declined.

Earlier this month, Jodi Kantor wrote a wonderful article about working women and breastfeeding in The New York Times ( subscription required)

"But as pressure to breast-feed increases, a two-class system is emerging for working mothers. For those with autonomy in their jobs — generally, well-paid professionals — breast-feeding, and the pumping it requires, is a matter of choice. It is usually an inconvenience, and it may be an embarrassing comedy of manners, involving leaky bottles tucked into briefcases and brown paper bags in the office refrigerator. But for lower-income mothers — including many who work in restaurants, factories, call centers and the military — pumping at work is close to impossible, causing many women to decline to breast-feed at all, and others to quit after a short time."

Elderberry Jam, a blog written by a Quaker Nurse who lives on a small farm is one of those breast feeding working women.

"I have been back to work as a nurse on an orthopedic/neurological unit since mid-July. Our baby girl has never tasted formula, and she just turned 3 months old. That is thanks to an Ameda Purely Yours breast pump. The hospital has a nice lactation room for employees, but our surgical floor is so busy that I often only get one chance in 8 hours to pump. I have a 45 minute drive to and from work. You aren't supposed to go over 4 hours without pumping. So if it's been 5 hours by the time I get off work, I pump rather than add 45 more minutes. Pumping in the car to and from work would be IDEAL."

As someone wrote (which I cannot find right now) breast pumping while driving does seem like the ultimate parody of multi-tasking. It's also expensive. From a post responding to Kantor's article in Medpundit.

"Wealthier women can spend their way out of work-versus-pumping dilemmas, overnighting milk home from business trips and buying $300 pumps that extract milk quickly, along with gizmos that allow them, in what seems like a parody of maternal multitasking, to pump while driving to and from work. Just don't try it with a real baby."

Radical Catholic Mom has a lot to say about the cost of using a breast pumps.

"It’s not just lactation breaks and a clean place to pump that’s often lacking, but the pump itself. Efficient pumps that can extract milk during a work break cost hundreds of dollars to own; Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on breastfeeding, notes that her patients can’t even afford the $50 variety. So let’s see: You have no guaranteed pumping breaks, no clean, private pumping space, and you can’t afford a pump. Meanwhile, WIC offers vouchers for formula. Is it any wonder that by six months postpartum, only 29% of mothers whose education ended at high school still feed their babies breastmilk?"

Turns out concerns about breastfeeding for working women is not limited to the U.S. According to an article in INQ7.net, Maila Ager writes about Eduardo Zialcita, legislator who wants breastfeeding rooms available to all working women in the Phillipines. While Zialcita cites health benefits as a reason, he also shares that there is an economic benefit to the legislation.

"Besides, the lawmaker said breastfeeding would not only save lives but it would also impact positively on the economy of the Philippines. The lawmaker said if all lactating mothers would breastfeed their babies, the government could save 57 million US dollars or roughly 2.96 million pesos from milk formula imports every year."

Finally, Cribsheet, a blog for Twin Cities moms and dads hosted by The Star Tribune had a post  from Christy, from a waitress that reminded me why I love the sensibilities of the Twin Cities.

MN has a great law regarding a womans right to pump-as well as tax breaks for employers who provide a special room to mothers-please look up the law–we have one of the best. As for restaurants, I have worked at Old Chicago Uptown for 12 years, and have pumped for a total of 3 years while working there (2 different babies) and they were FABULOUS. I could go every 1 1/2-3 hours (depending on my babies age-I went back to work at 28 days post-partum) while the manager and other servers watched my tables–my husband was even allowed to bring in our baby in case the bottle was rejected that night. Since my experience, I know that there have been many servers at our various locations who have pumped no problem at work. I realize I am lucky to have such a great supportive place to work, I just wish everyone knew about our rights as nursing moms.

Image Credit:Galatically Stupid. This is cross-posted at Blogher.