Breastfeeding and the Working Mother

Many mothers will return to work shortly after their baby is born, and leave their baby with a caretaker while they are working. Being a working mother does not mean you have to give up on breastfeeding, if that is what you have chosen to do. In order to continue to feed your baby breastmilk, you will have to express milk to have for your caretaker to provide for your infant.

Mothers who anticipate returning to work are often tempted to begin offering expressed breastmilk in bottles as soon as possible, so the baby becomes accustomed to bottle feeding. However, it is important to exclusively breastfeed your baby for a few weeks, and not introduce bottles as this can lead to nipple confusion and a difficult time for the both of you. However, after a few weeks you will want to begin to integrate a bottle into your daily feeding schedule. Many women choose to have someone else feed from the bottle so that the baby learns that mom offers the breast and everyone else will offer the bottle.

Finding a good breastpump is essential for a working mother. I own a small electric pump (the swing by Medela) and it is perfect for my needs. I also own an Avent Isis manual pump which works equally well as a backup. As far as brands go, I have personally had little or no luck with anything made by Gerber, Bailey, or Evenflo. Medela is the gold standard, and Avent pumps have had few complaints.

Pumping breastmilk should be done at the approximate time (or time intervals) your baby is being fed. This will keep your supply up and on the weekends or days you are home with your baby your feeding schedules will match. Many working mothers find it comforting to have a supply of frozen breastmilk before starting back to work. Although this is good for peace of mind, if the mother pumps the same amount the baby is eating, supply should not be an issue.

It is important for a working mother to inform her boss that she is planning on pumping breastmilk, so that she can be afforded the privacy and time necessary to do so. Since the workplace is often hectic, it is important to have a space set aside that offers few interruptions or distractions. It is best if you can be in a dim, quiet room with perhaps a picture of your baby to help with the letdown reflex.

Once the milk is pumped, it can be left at room temperature for up to 10 hours. So, a bottle of expressed breastmilk can easily be kept at her desk or in her purse until the end of the workday. This eliminates the need for the working mother to put her milk in a community refrigerator (which may offend some workers, or may not be safe from tampering).

There are many support groups available to the working mother. La Leche League is the most notable one, and they have a website with forums set up specifically to help with the emotional and logistical hardships working mothers can face when continuing to breastfeed their infants once returning to work.