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I can really only speak to how things were handled at my old company. Some travel was required in most roles, but it was flexible on who could go. A lot of meetings were over holiday weekends, which sucks for everyone. Generally, especially when moms were newly back from leave, people would try to be sympathetic and pick up a little bit of the slack on traveling but generally we all knew it sucked sometimes and just took turns taking the crappiest timed meetings.

That said some of our meetings were in cool places so the younger, childless, people often wanted to to attend those anyway.

No, I just pumped while I was gone. Once you are back employers don't tend to be overly sympathetic to moms who pump.

I think once you’re back you’re back. But, if I knew I would be returning and then be required to go to an out of state conference within a few weeks of my return from mat leave, I would talk to my supervisor about that way ahead of time.

To your general question, I don’t think nursing moms get special treatment as compared to non-nursing moms except for things that might be legally required like on-site lactation rooms (partly because I don’t think many bosses are going to ask women if they are nursing or not).

And no, I don’t think mothers deserve special treatment/priority/accommodation over non-mothers.

No, however, "required" is sort of a loose term around here, and I've always had managers be very understanding when I say, "i cannot travel these days".

That being said....I have a reduced schedule at work that I specifically asked for before I had T. But it's a company allowed thing, even though someone will always see it as "special treatment". So i do think some companies/manages are quite accommodating and if it's within the company's umbrella of perks, it's fair game.

Thinking/saying that you're entitled to more vacation than someone else "because of children" is a dick move, though. And that's dumb

Do I think they should get a pass, meaning, they don't have to go to the meeting? It's so difficult to say what the right thing is, because it really depends on the level of participation.

My industry isn't really accomodating, I'll be honest. If you don't attend, you're kind of made to feel like you're missing out/dropping the ball.

@bushelandapeck: Yes, I feel like my boss and coworkers have been very accommodating for me as well. I work in a male dominated field, so I think they try to be EXTRA accommodating for new moms to help encourage them to return to work! Otherwise lots of new moms wouldn't.

I think it depends on how long the maternity leave is. If the baby is ten weeks old and mom's supply is still regulating and she hasn't had time to build up a freezer stash, then yes, I think she should definitely get a pass. If the baby is nine months old, not so much.

And I really hate the idea that people with kids are more entitled to time off at the holidays than people without kids.

With my first job after LO was born, I traveled at least once per month. I was very up front about how much I could do, and I was also up front about the fact that my DH traveled as well (his work travel is occasionally international). With no local family, it meant that I had to sometimes decline trips. In this situation, I would speak to my boss well ahead of time.

Its one thing to ask for accommodations to pump, its another thing to ask to skip a business trip (or multiple trips) when your job requires some travel. Especially if this is a big once a year type meeting.

If your job requires regular or occasional travel and you are back from maternity leave, I think you should travel. If you want a reduced travel schedule when returning from maternity leave, then you should request that when you are returning from work.

FWIW - I took a trip half way across the country less than a month after returning from maternity leave. It was only 3 days/2 nights , but it was really nice to get away (and get some much needed sleep)!! (It was my second kid and I had a longer leave, which I'm sure both made traveling easier).

I agree with a few others that workplaces *should* be as accommodating as possible to new mothers & pumping mothers. I don't agree with the "you're back, so you're back" mentality because being required to return to work (due to finances or FMLA running out) doesn't mean all mothers are ready to work at 100%. I don't think its unfair for a new mother to ask for flexibility in some areas. (I don't think priority on getting leave time is one of those areas though!)

My company recently changed the policy for working moms fresh off maternity leave. For primary caregivers, they can remain local for a year, so no travel. If they do travel, there's a free breastmilk shipping program. I'm local no matter what, but the new policies have been hugely helpful in general.

@mamabolt: It's only very recent and through the hard work of a lot of moms. Another benefit of it was an extra 4 weeks of maternity leave. My baby has only been in daycare about a month because of the changes. It actually made transitioning back to work easier since I know it's less time to pump at work. It felt long and awful the first time. Now, I know that I have 3 months before I wean (8 months like LO #1), feels faster, can't complain.

@JoyfulKiwi: Not sure I agree with you there. It's not the company's fault that the mother may wish she could have taken a longer maternity leave than she did. If the mother isn't ready to go back to work 100%, she needs to find another solution. Because if the role requires travel, the work still needs to get done, and I don't think it's fair to expect others to continue to fill in the gaps when they have already been doing so for her maternity leave.

I think it would have been pretty shitty if my work required me to go on a week long travel assignment 2-4 weeks after I returned from maternity leave. I didn't have the freezer stash at that point to provide enough breast milk for my son for 24/7 for 5 full days. I had 70 oz - that would've last 2.5 days tops. Then I guess he would've gotten formula? And he's allergic (anaphylaxis) to dairy, so that would've been fun to discover at 14 weeks instead of 8 months!

I think companies that are accommodating to women in this area will definitely be more appealing and retain more talented women than companies that don't. But obviously they can do whatever they want within the law, no matter how shitty it is.

@JoyfulKiwi: I don't disagree with you that the maternity leave policies need to be improved in this country. However, for the time being, it is what it is. So I'm a believer that people need to work within the parameters of their own situations. If someone has credit card debt and can't afford to take as much maternity leave as they would like to, then maybe right now isn't the best time to have a baby. If someone doesn't want to travel after having a baby, then they need to plan ahead find a new job, not expect the scope of the job that they have to be magically changed to accomodate their life choices. I very purposefully moved into a less challenging/more family friendly role (with lower earning potential) before having kids because I knew the job I had previously was not a track that would allow me the time with my family that I wanted. Yes, it's awesome when companies have policies that support working mothers (my company has 12 weeks leave paid at 100% which I'm very grateful for and it was a big part of my choice to work here), but at a certain point, the job needs to get done, and once my leave is over, I come at full speed.

I think in an ideal situation, yes. But I don't think that is what is typically practice. I know a coworker returned from maternity leave after 12 weeks and at about 16 weeks she did have to go on a week-long business trip overseas and actually shipped breast milk on dry ice at an astronomical cost (that the company did not assist with). She was also a recent widow, so if anything she doubly deserved a "pass," but nope.

I didn't return to that job after maternity leave, though, because that's not what I wanted for myself and my family. I wish it could have been different.

@Adira: I completely understand where you are coming from, but I guess in my field they wouldn't care that I didn't build up my milk stash, they would (in the OP's case that this meaning is well known in advance) assume I had enough time to get my ducks in a row knowing this trip was coming up to provide what I needed for my child before leaving.