For at least 10 minutes, three times daily, this was my view from the chair in a quiet, secluded room near the women's restroom while I breast pumped (with a cover for privacy). If it looks dim-lit and boring, it was. But, anything for my baby. (Photo taken several months ago by Althea Peterson)
What do you do while at work breast pumping? I tried reading, but you never know when you're going to need to adjust, or remove the pump stuff. So, I picked up something else that didn't require nearly as much time or effort: Blog sketches. That's the main pump part in the foreground, and that's my sketch notebook behind it. If you don't recognize the drawing, I didn't ever finish it, like several others, so it's unpublished. The little white round discs next to the pump are valuable: Nuk Nursing Pads. (Photo taken several months ago by Althea Peterson)
Some people take smoke breaks.
Some people take lunch breaks.
I took breast pumping breaks, and until recently when I cut back to two daily, I used to take three daily breaks, about 15 minutes each, every three hours.
But, that doesn't mean that everyone gets to, reportedly. From The Montery Herald:
"A former teacher at the Carmelo School has filed a lawsuit against the school and the Carmel Unified School District for discrimination and wrongful termination for the school's failure to accommodate her needs as a new mother."
The Herald continues:
"She told manager Laura Dunn she would need about 15 minutes between 9 and 11 a.m. every day to pump her breasts. Dunn reportedly told Boyle to start "training my breast not to make milk between the hours of 7 a.m. and 1 p.m." so that she would not need to pump."
You can read the entire story
here.So, let me try to clear up any breastfeeding misconceptions for those who are curious:
Q: Can you "train" your body to not produce milk?A: Eventually, I guess? When your baby nurses every three hours day and night, you eat and drink a lot, and you stick with that schedule for two to three months during maternity leave, a mother's body is not going to shut down immediately.
The training to stop producing milk is to just cut back until you're not nursing at all, which is what I'm on the verge of doing, both by nursing less often (unless my baby's a fuss, she's asleep all night) and pumping less during the work day/at home.
Q: Aren't there certain times during the day that a mom can produce less?A: No, here's a backstory: During the first month of my baby' life, my husband wanted me to experience a full night's sleep just once again, so he volunteered to take the night feedings.
This gift failed for many reasons: First, I kept waking up, dreaming that the cat on the bed was our daughter, and feared that she was going to fall off the edge. As it relates to nursing, however, my shirt was drenched within 4, 5 hours.
In short, there's no time during the day that you can "quit" during those early months.
Q: Is it really that consequential if you pump less often?A: Yeah, unfortunately. If you are pumping, it is best to take shorter breaks more often than less longer breaks, also (three 10-minute pump sessions as opposed to two 15-minute sessions, for example. Same time off, more milk!). If you do try to make your body "quit" during certain times during the day, you'll be producing less milk.
Less milk at a time when your baby's growing and demanding more to eat?! Not a good idea.
Q: Do breastfeeding mothers have any legal rights to nurse/pump?A:
Here are Oklahoma breastfeeding laws, directly from the ok.gov site. In short:
- Mothers can be excused from jury duty to nurse.
- Mothers may use unpaid meal and break times to pump/nurse.
- Work places are "urged" to provide a private area for pumping/nursing.
I personally have scheduled an extra hour in my work day since return from maternity leave so that I don't feel like I'm shortchanging my employer while taking these breaks.
There are two rooms that I've used at work to accommodate pumping - both are connected to the women's restroom, but they are NOT THE TOILET STALL (note that the Oklahoma laws also urge workplaces to provide a nurse/pump area that is "other than a toilet stall"). One is a quiet, fairly dim-lit room with couches, the other is a bright, but curtained-off room.
But seriously, check out
tulsaworld.com/oklaws for tons more information on Oklahoma breastfeeding laws, why breast pumping at work is a good idea, and more.
Q: Wait... you expect moms to be able to take several breaks a day from work and expect us to believe it's a GOOD idea?!A: Breastfed babies are sick less often. And if babies are sick, guess who's staying home from work to take care of the sick baby?
--Althea Peterson
