Many working moms struggle to breastfeed
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- September
- 1
There’s a terrific report on the gap in breastfeeding between professional women and those in service jobs in today’s New York Times. Reporter Jodi Kantor talked to retail, restaurant and other lower-income workers about the problems and outright harassment many experience when they try to pump on the job.
In contrast to professionals who can shut their office doors or visit a corporate lactation room, lower-income moms are often forced to pump in bathrooms — if they are allowed to pump at all.
The Times explored this story because government health authorities are waking up to the benefits of breast milk and encouraging women to nurse as long as possible. Current recommendations advise moms to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of baby’s life — a goal that’s hard to achieve if you must return to a job that makes pumping nearly impossible.
I cannot imagine what it’s like to pump in a smelly bathroom stall. It was hard enough for me to combine pumping and a job — and I had the benefit of working from home much of the time during my daughter’s first year.
Though I’ve mentioned some of my travails with pumping before, the full tale of my year of pumping can wait for another day. But I just had to draw your attention to this story because I think it’s so important for everyone to understand the challenges faced by working moms who want to provide breastmilk for their babies. My Pumpkin was premature, so there never was a question for me about whether she would get all the breastmilk I could produce. It was my No. 1 goal. But for many moms who rely on service jobs to put food on the table, getting a paycheck is the No. 1 goal — and, sadly, breastfeeding has to take a back seat to that.
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 2:46 am by Julie Moran Alterio.
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Breastfeeding is without any doubt the most excellent means to nourish your newly born baby. It has got a lot of benefits as compared to feeding with a bottle and barely any drawbacks.
1. Breastfeeding helps moms lose weight and get back to their pre-pregnancy size.
2. Breastfeeding is effective in combating postpartum depression
3. Colostrum is the first food available to breastfeeding newborns, and is tailor-made to meet the nutritional needs of newborn infants, breastfeeding babies do not require the large volumes of fluid required for bottle-fed babies during the first few days of life.
http://www.BuyBovineColostrum.com
Breastfeeding was sometihng I was worried about when I was pregnant. I was worried it would be painful and impossible to do once I returned to work full time.
The first two weeks were rough, but my baby did get the hang of it. I returned to work after eight weeks and decided to keep breastfeeding.
She is now 6 months old and I am still breastfeeding.
I work close enough to her day care that I can go over there on my lunch break and nurse her. I also pump in the afternoon. I do not work in the service industry, but I don’t have an office. I pump in a supply closet. There is a chair in there and it’s not that bad. The hardest part about doing all this has been finding a stopping point during the day to be able to go pump.
After be a bit leary of breastfeeding in the beginning, I now love it. It’s a special bond between me and my daughter. I think it will be harder for me than it will be for her to quit nursing.