Breastfeeding is hard enough, storing milk while at home with baby is stressful and now we are going to talk about when you have to go back to work, adding one more stressor! Hopefully these lessons will take some of that worry off your shoulders. When going back to work you’ll have to work out an ideal nursing/pumping schedule to keep breastmilk supply up as well as continue to have a supply for baby. Remember I said its ideal to have AT LEAST 3 days saved up this way you can play catch up on the weekend when you’re home if need be (or whatever day you have off). I’m going to try to go over many different shifts as well as the laws that protect breastfeeding moms.
I know more than anyone that jobs are no longer 9-5 and they are all different shifts, not just 8 hours either and some are on the go. I’m going to talk about each scenario, a dayshift working mom is the first that we will highlight. You should nurse baby and pump before work, just like you did before, since you will get the most milk out at that time. That will be baby’s first feed of the day so the caretaker/nanny/daycare won’t have to feed baby for another 3 hours (which also is less of your stash being used and some even being added). 3 hours after that you should pump again, if you must push it to 4 that’s also okay, and you should pump for at least 15 minutes. This schedule should continue for the rest of your shift (for example nurse/pump 6 am, pump 9 am, pump 12pm, if you leave work at 4 you will nurse or whenever baby is hungry). Instruct whoever is taking care of baby to not feed close to you coming home, as the next feed will be you nursing. If they had to, or you feel engorged waiting for baby to want to eat you can always give a quick pump for relief or use the silicone breast pump.
A night shift mom will do things a little differently. Working nightshift, you are typically asleep during the day and gone at night, so it is lucky that you make more milk at night! If you nap before you go into work, make sure to feed baby before your nap. When you wake you can pump or feed baby again depending on baby’s schedule (since most of us go back to work before baby is on a sleep schedule). Since you are home during the day you can have the babysitter wake you to nurse on schedule but still use your milky saver and silicone breast pump to save milk! Your schedule after that will look similar to the day shift mom, every 3-4 hours and nursing when you get home (for example nurse pump at 10pm, pump 1 am, pump 4 am, if you leave work at 7 am wait to feed baby until you get home).
It’s important to pump the way you would feed the baby, every 3 hours for 15 minutes, to keep up supply. Like I said its okay if you must spread a pump out to 4 hours just make sure its not every pump. You can also shorten one pump down to 10 minutes if need be but don’t make it every pump and if you’ve waited 4 hours do not shorten the pump.
Milk temperatures are another thing that we will need to go over, sometimes you’re tired and milk is left and out and you don’t want to waste it but also want to make sure its safe. Breastmilk is safe at room temperature up to 6 hours! That means if you take it home and leave it in the bag, odds are its fine, as you had cooler packs in there keeping it cold for hours as well. In the refrigerator its good for 6 days, regular freezer 6 months and deep freezer 12 months. Some moms have on the go jobs, such as delivery jobs, mail carriers etc. The coolers that are sold specifically for breastmilk bottles are fine to use as your fridge, but you can use a bigger cooler if you want a little added assurance. Some cooler brands I would recommend are the Medela—I used this specific one. It comes with a special ice pack to fit the bottles, holds four 5-ounce bottles and stays cool all day. Its $17.99 at target. Nanobebe cooler is only made for those specific bottles, it can hold 3-4 of the specific nanobebe bottles and they stack! Its $11.99 at target. If you plan on pumping directly into the Kiinde bags they have a 6-bag cooler on amazon for $15.99. The biggest cooler I found was a JL Childres 6 bottle cooler and it is $12.79 at target. It also held larger bottles (around 8 ounce). For our on the go moms that want a larger, more insulated cooler, you can investigate a cooler like the Coleman cooler that is $9.99 on amazon. Remember breastmilk doesn’t go bad as quickly as people think, its magical!
In 2010 President Obama passed the Fair Labor Standards Act to protect break times for nursing mothers. The law requires a reasonable break time and a lactation space that is not a bathroom. The law does not specify the amount of time allowed but it does say that these breaks do not have to be paid. It also states that any company with fewer than 50 employees can claim a “hardship” and not allow pump breaks. The catch is that if the lactating mother appeals this the employer must prove an actual hardship. The laws vary from state to state so I’ll first start with the states that DO NOT protect breastfeeding moms..since only 26 do. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, District of Colombia, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin have no laws protecting lactating mothers. Living in a state where it was not protected, I had no issues, it depends on each employer.
The states that protect our lactation rights have little rules within the law. Hawaii was by far the best state that even makes employers pay women while pumping! The absolute worst was Louisiana which states that only public-school employees are protected. The states that follow the law with no exceptions are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New york, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico (which also includes moms being able to nurse babies at work!), Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington. Massachusetts rule is they need to have more than 6 employees, Kentucky more than 8 employees, South Carolina 15 or more employees and Nebraska more than 15 employees. Mississippi and Missouri just state it is illegal to discriminate against pregnant and/or breastfeeding moms but its not clear what they mean by that. Oregon’s law states it does not need to be paid and that you get 30 minutes every 4 hours, Virginia and New Mexico are also specifically unpaid. Utah’s law and Wyoming’s were bizarre to read. Utah states that they recognize the benefits, but it is unpaid. I’m not sure if that means the employer had to give time to pump or not. Wyoming just encourages employers to recognize the benefits of breastfeeding and commends those that do. Essentially not protecting anyone and leaving it up to the employer but making it look as though they care.
Now that you know the laws you can protect yourself accordingly and start talking to your employer now about your pumping schedule. Most employees are protected, and hopefully if we keep fighting all will be. Breast feeding in public is now protected in all 50 states so for our on the go mom, pump and go as you must! Nurse regularly when you’re home and to pump at work as you would nurse. Always use the oldest milk so you don’t waste any! Remember we want to create the least amount of waste possible because you have worked hard to make it this far and to store all of that milk!
Questions? Put them on the thread to this post or email them to me birthwithavoice@gmail.com
Next lesson will be “Tried and True Galactagogue” (breastmilk boosters).
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Birth with a Voice 