Breastfeeding at Work

To be separated from your baby for the very first time can be very stressful for any new mother. To leave them behind in the care of someone else to get back to work is an equally daunting task. Continuing breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ease off this stress and care for your baby even when you are not around!

Working motherhood is quite a challenge. One of the operational challenges that most working mothers encounter has to do with breastfeeding. They feel that it’s difficult tocontinue breastfeeding when they join back work and hence give up on it and start using formula milk or top feed instead. More often than not, formula feeds and bottle feeds are started in the initial days after birth in order to accustom the baby to bottle and formula. Despite being aware of the WHO recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months and thereafter continued breastfeeding till at least 2 years of age, new mothers believe that it is not possible for them as they will have to go out after a few months.

In the last few decades, research and development in the field of breastfeeding technology has enabled mothers across the world to manage motherhood with work life, in a way that the child gets round-the-clock access to breast milk.

Here’s a practical guide from a lactation expert to help you manage work and motherhood:

Plan ahead before re-joining work

Lactation Consultants generally advise that mothers should exclusively breastfeed during the early weeks when they are at home. Lots of breastfeeding- while still at home, helps the body to build up the mother’s milk supply to maximum. A few weeks before joining back work, a mother should start expressing breast milk using a good quality breast pump more or less during the same hours when she will be expressing at work and continue direct feeding during the hours when she is supposed to be with her baby.

Talk to your employer

Most of the times, mothers feel reluctant talking to their employers about having scheduled breaks and some private area during those breaks for pumping. It is important to ask your employer about expressing the milk because most of the times it can be arranged and also by law, a breastfeeding mum is entitled to a few scheduled breaks during the work hours for pumping (do check with your HR department about your companies policy in such cases!). Washrooms should not be used to express milk. The place where a mother expresses her milk should be comfortable, hygienic and private.

Express breast milk at work

Most breastfeeding equipment available in the market today are user-friendly, portable and noise-free. Many of them can be used both on electricity and battery. Dual-phased breast pumps are also available in the market to make expression of milk fast and more effective. Many lactation experts recommend Swing single electric breast pump and Swing Maxi double electric breast pump from Medela for their features and benefits. Help and guidance can be sought from a qualified lactation consultant for any problems that a working mother encounters/anticipates.

Storing expressed breast milk

Mothers should carry containers to store the expressed milk and label and refrigerate it. As a general rule, breast milk cleanly collected can be stored at room temperature (25 degrees) can be used within 5hrs of storage while breast milk refrigerated at 4-8 degrees can be used upto 24hrs. (For more descriptive storage guidelines refer to Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Guidelines).

Ideal time to express milk

It is very important that new-mothers should at least take 2-3 breaks to express milk while at work. Also, the breaks should preferably be scheduled for same time every day.

Breastfeeding after work

When mothers come back from work, they must breastfeed whenever the baby wants. The baby may want to be breastfed more at night which is usually to “catch up” and spend more time with the mother. It is absolutely ok to breastfeed lying down, as it helps the mother relax.

It is important to realize that there are long-term and short-term repercussions of not breastfeeding the baby. Apart from providing immunity, food breastfeeding establishes an emotional connect through physical contact with the baby. Mothers have the right to know all the options they have, if they want to continue breastfeeding and they have a right to choose whatever they finally decide is best in their situation.

The article has been authored by Dr Shacchee Baweja, a certified International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) member and a pediatrician at BLK Superspeciality Hospital in Delhi.