It is the wish of every mother to give her infant child the best growth start. As proven and supported by numerous scientific studies, milk is the only best natural source of nourishment you can give your child. For this reason, all breastfeeding mothers are advised to exclusively breastfeed their children for at least six months before introducing any other food.
After that children should continue breastfeeding till they are at least two years. But how do you achieve giving your child uninterrupted breast milk if you are working? Pumping milk at your workplace is the ideal solution.
But it is challenging for working women to pump breast milk at work. There is lack of privacy for pumping, inadequate breaks to sustain the demand for the breast milk and un-supportive employers among others.
You ca however overcome this and make pumping breast milk at work easier by finding a private room, investing in a quality pump, create adequate time, secure a safe storage and acquire the support of your employer.
Everything you Need for Pumping Breast Milk at Work
For you to express/pump breast milk at your workplace, you need the following items/facilities
- A breast pump –
- Storage bags/containers-for storing breast milk
- A private room, with a power outlet, water sink etc.- for privacy
- Adequate breaks – you need time without rushing through the pumping
- A refrigerator- for keeping your pumped milk fresh and safe
- A supportive employer/colleagues-
Some workplaces have an adequately equipped lactation room to make it comfortable and easier for breastfeeding moms for pump breast milk. They so kindly provide some or all the above facilities to support the breastfeeding mothers who want to continue expressing milk at the workplace.
However, a majority of workplaces lack most of the above necessities, so you have to provide them for yourself or a workaround.
Ensure that you start pumping milk three weeks before resuming work. This is the time while you are still on your maternity leave. It will assist you to have an easy pumping transition when you go back to work that will make sure your pumping routine is simple and consistent.
How to Make Pumping Milk at Work Easier
1. Find a Comfortable and Private Room
Lack of privacy is one of the biggest challenges that most breastfeeding mothers face trying to pump breast milk at work. To effectively express milk, you need a quiet, private room free from invasions. While some workplaces do offer private lactation rooms others lack this crucial facility.
Talk to your employer about the importance of having this facility in the workplace. You may want to first find out if you have any legal backing for having your employer providing a lactation room for breastfeeding moms to pump milk in. Different countries and states have different legal provisions covering the basics needs for breastfeeding mothers in the workplace and its valuable to use this.
After this, your employer may be willing to put up a lactation room or offer you a private room for pumping. The room needs to be completely private, has a comfortable chair, a sink, and water as these are crucial necessities that you need to easily pump breast milk at work.
If this space is still not availed to you, look around for what other space you can use as alternative rooms for pumping breast milk in. You can pick your office, an isolated room or the workplace quiet room as their privacy makes pumping milk easier. If you cant lock the door or is still uneasy about invasions, place a ” DO NOT DISTURB “ sign on the door.Some other options you have include cars, bathrooms, closets and shared offices to pump breast milk.
Also sit on a comfortable chair while pumping milk. It will allow the hind-milk to flow into your breast sinuses for pumping. It will also make the session comfortable for you.Keep yourself calm and composed. Remember if you are tense, your milk will not let down.
Read: Practical Breast Pumping Spots at Work
2. Invest in a Quality and Convenient Breast Pump
It would be wrong to assume that all employers offer breast milk pumping equipment to breastfeeding women at the workplace. Yet a breast pump is one of those items that are an absolute necessity for you as a breastfeeding working mom.
However having the right kind of a breast pump is paramount for easy milk pumping. A full-size double pump is faster, more efficient and also the simultaneous bilateral pumping increases your levels of serum prolactin. It saves you so much time and trouble involved in pumping breast milk at work.
Take advantage of your maternity leave to look around and find a perfect breast milk within your budget. While some breast pumps are quite on the high end, there are still some quality electric pumps you can find that are low budget.
If you really must cut, then go for a manual pump instead of expressing milk using hands. A manual pump is not as effective as an electric one but is more effective and efficient than expressing milk with your hands.
3. Get Adequate Breaks between Work
The recommended interval for a breastfeeding mom to express milk is about every three hours, which is about the same time the infant would have fed. Ensure that you getting enough breaks around the same time to pump. Further, you need about 30 minutes every session to express milk, clean your equipment and freshen up.
But having this privilege largely depends on your workplace, the nature of your work and your supervisor/employer. Reasonably, most employers will be willing to allocate you more breaks to make your pumping adequate and easier.
Depending on your workplace, you may have several options here. You may offer to split your one-hour lunch break into two interval breaks during the shift that will offer enough time to pump breast milk at work for the day.
However if your circumstances or employer do not allow for frequent additional breaks, you can still make your normal routine work to your advantage and continue pumping breast milk at work.
For instance you can take advantage of the time before your shift in the morning and the time after your shift in the evening for pumping. Besides use your tea break, lunch break and evening break if available and allocate them for pumping breast milk.
The less frequently you pump, the less your milk production will become. Regular pumping also helps eliminate breast complications such as engorgement, leaking, and mastitis. Remember your determination and willingness to keep pumping will help you keep going.
Read: How to Get Some Me-Time at the Office for Pumping
4. Secure Convenient Milk Storage Options
Having a convenient and reliable storage is very important if you pump at work and need to move the expressed milk back home. Doctors advise that breast milk be stored in a refrigerator or freezer immediately after expressing. This means a cold storage/freezer/refrigerator is necessary for you if are pumping at the workplace.
Some workplace lactation rooms have refrigerators while others just have general refrigerators used by all staff. These may be a ideal solution for you if there are few users in the office. If not, it may not be appropriate because of the obvious storage limitation and the high risk of milk contamination. If your workplace does not have a lactation refrigerator, see if your employer is willing to provide one that is separate from other employees uses.
If this is not possible, make your own arrangements for both storing and transporting your expressed breast milk back home. One of the most convenient options that is highly recommended is finding portable cold storage that will both store your milk cold and also facilitate moving it back home at the end of the day.
Cole storage are the most convenient ,and safe option for moms pumping breast milk at work. They are readily available and you can check out at your local store. Keep the expressed milk in the refrigerator or cold storage as soon as possible. Freeze the milk or use within 48 hours. Experts recommended that frozen milk can be kept up to 6 months.
5. Acquire the Support of your Employer
You need a very supportive employer and colleagues to make your pumping at work journey easier. It is quite intensive to continue pumping at the workplace amidst the heavy challenges and discrimination you might face every day. You may encounter un-supportive employers due to cost involved and colleagues that lead to discrimination.
Often it is the lack of knowledge that might create a lack of support and hence your first move is creating awareness about the importance of pumping breast milk at work.
Ask your employer to let you invite or organize for a workplace awareness campaign on breastfeeding support at the workplace. You can enlist the help of your nurse to educate the employer and employees about the benefits of breastfeeding and the need to support breastfeeding mothers at the workplace.
Take care of your self physically, and emotionally. Do not feel guilty about asking your employer to facilitate breast milk pumping at the workplace. Motherhood is a natural gift and nurturing your child is a nature’s duty. Your employer is obliged into making pumping breast milk easier for you.
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