Going back to work and continuing to nurse your child is challenging and requires discipline and dedication to make it happen. First of all, our bodies and minds are saturated with hormones that promote bonding, nurturing, patience, and agreeability. The typical business environment, however, requires just the opposite: mental toughness, focus to meet deadlines, and decent amount of disagreeability. So, the transition from maternity leave back to the workforce is tough for many women. Add to it the extra duty of pumping a few times a day while missing your sweet time when nursing your baby, and it can be pretty difficult; it was for me. I had to go back to work, and I wanted to nurse my son for at least 12 months.
I’m guessing you already know the amazing benefits of extended breast feeding so for now I will focus on the strategies:
- Before you return to work, find out about your employer’s policy about nursing at work. Mine was fabulous and super accommodating. One time my boss aligned a break in the meeting so that I could step out to the mother’s room.
- Get a pump that is light, has a charger, is quiet, and easy to carry. Somedays, I need to be in three different locations during my work day, and the pump travels with me. There are variety of online resources to help you choose the right pump. I used Ashland breast pumps and selected the Spectra S2 .
- I have been using it for the past 18 months and I am very happy with it.
- Get your mind right. This one is really big: separation anxiety, business environment so different from home, and your hormonal state may not make it easy. Mother nature has a different idea about woman’s biological and emotional needs at five months postpartum than what the typical working environment has to offer. I might add the hustle and bustle of New York City…you get the idea. You need a mental strategy to deal with this transition. I used to tell myself that my body and mind are the way they are for the benefit of my son. It was my daily mantra. I took a little longer to put together a meeting, or was less on point with deadlines, but eventually I got the results, and I got back into the routine. It felt as I if I was getting everything done, but slower than what I was used to. I accepted that this was OK, and that this was temporary, and I would come back bigger and better. And I did!
- Pumping needs to be an integral part of your business day. As much as you schedule your appointments or client calls, you do the same for pumping. I went back to work after five months and I had three pumping sessions while at work. The third one would happen on the perfect day, the two were a must. My nursing day is linked here.
- Set reminders on your phone: three or at least two during the business day.
….and stick with it, the benefits your child receives from extended nursing are too many to give up on just because you returned to work.
