Hellobee Boards

US maternity leave "policy" makes me ragey... The fact that a vast majority of women need to return to work so quickly is definitely an impediment to breastfeeding. Just looking at the boards, how many women do we see that have a wonderful breastfeeding relationship, but lose supply once returning to work and end up needing to supplement. My boss couldn't care less what I do as long as my work was done, but had that not been the case I never would have been able to provide enough milk for E. I spent so much time hooked up to that damn pump and there's no way that most women would have been able to keep up that schedule during work hours.

I also think that there is a lack of support and resources for women who do breastfeed. So many pediatricians even are so quick to push supplementing instead of helping a mother find resources to tackle nursing problems.

That was an interesting article. Aside from our abysmal maternity leave policies, I liked that they pointed out that regardless of federal laws that guarantee a time and place for breastfeeding, those things are not always guaranteed in real life. I'm very nervous about when when maternity leave ends because I am not aware of a colleague that has successfully pumped at work more than 4 weeks after returning to work. I am a teacher and we don't have coverage for students or a private place to pump. I can't imagine how difficult it would be for someone in an hourly situation to even attempt it.

Definitely a good article! And I agree with the part that says that while often companies have to set aside a time and place to pump, it's not always feasible for a woman to do it!

I was very lucky that I was able to breastfeed and pump for Xander until he was a year old. Now I'm 5 weeks pregnant with our second and I'm ALREADY stressing about this. Last time around, I had PLENTY of vacation time saved up so that I could use it when I returned to work to cover my time pumping. This time I don't even have enough to cover my maternity leave, so when I return to work, I don't know how I'll be able to pump! Just thinking about it makes me sick.

@Adira: Wait. You had to use vacation time in order to pump at work? Isn't that....like, not legal?

I think lack of support is the biggest problem. Not only from physicians and pediatricians, but also from workplace. My workplace has policies in place to support pumping moms - there are several lactation lounges, most of which supply hospital-grade pumps (working in a hospital with a huge maternity/ICN is a bonus here). You are allowed 15-30 minute breaks for pumping. So I, as a social worker, never had a problem. BUT, for the nurses, it is a huge problem. They are told (not in so many words) that they cannot leave the floor to go pump. There is no backup coverage in place for them. It is too busy. They're in the middle of giving out meds. There's too much documentation. Etc. They have no support, and most of the nurses that I work with give up pumping after coming back to work because it's too much of a hassle for them. It makes me sad for them, because I know that they WANT to continue to pump/BF, but they aren't given the support and resources to make it possible.

Thanks for sharing this.

If the employer provides paid breaks for other reasons, then they have to provide the same amount of paid break time for pumping. If they don't provide paid breaks, they don't have to pay you for the time you pump. I believe the provision also only applies to hourly workers, if you're salaried I'm not sure how that changes. I'm about to start a new job (hourly, whew), so I've been researching this information!

I know that I wouldn't have been able to breastfeed for as long as I did without support from DH, a lactation specialist, my doula, my nursing mom friends, and a supportive work environment. That ish is tough! And tiring. Sure it's definitely a great bonding experience and good for the baby, but it was hard for me in the beginning.

I felt very privileged to work at an office with a dedicated lactation room, as well as have a very supportive supervisor who had just had her own baby before me.

If I got pregnant at my current job I wouldn't be able to pump unless it was in the bathroom!

Not that I don't support breastfeeding at all, why would you expect to be paid a full day if you're taking 3-4 breaks during the work day for 30 minutes a piece where you are not working? That'd be like expecting to get to leave 2 hours early everyday, or getting a 2 hour lunch break everyday and getting paid for a full 40 hour work week when you're really only working 30. My company does not provide paid breaks, you work 8 hours a day, and break for 45 minutes unpaid for lunch so your day is 8 hrs and 45 minutes. As far as I know, only union employees who have it negotiated would have a paid break, I've never had paid breaks as a salaried or hourly non union employee.

@PurplePumps: I pumped 3 times a day for 20 mins. No one ever said anything to me about it but I felt bad so I just skipped my lunch break every day. No one ever complained about it or anything though and most didn't know I skipped lunch.

@PurplePumps: I pumped 2x a day (sometimes 3 depending on my schedule) and pumped within my lunch/break time. I usually took 20 minutes for lunch and two 20-minute pumping sessions. If I had to do a third session I'd try to get it at 10-15 minutes--but all of this was still within my allotted break time (1 hour for lunch and a 15-minute break).

At first I felt guilty about it, but then I thought about all of the hours upon hours of overtime that I was not paid for as a salaried employee. The least they could do is let me pump!

@PurplePumps: At my new job I get to log my overtime--but at my last one (where I pumped) it was "sorry, you just have to work."

@lawbee11: We get a 30 minute UNPAID lunch break. I either pumped during it or worked through it in order to not have to use even more vacation. And I work in a cubicle.

@Pumuckl: I talked to my HR a few times about this and there isn't a charge code we can use for pumping except our own vacation or excused time (which I blew through the first month I was back).

@Adira: Wow, that is awfull! I actually never asked HR were to book my hours I just booked them on general admin and nobody ever asked. But I wasn't in the office everyday like you were...

ETA: But then here's a story about how capable my HR is: I told them that if I come back to work 12w after having had a baby that I'd need a room to pump and she said: I'm sorry you'll have to use the bathroom (which by the way is totally illegal to suggest). I ended up pumping in the car for some weeks before working up the courage to talk to my male boss's boss (one of the owners of the company) and he was like "she told you what!?!?!" and found me an heated, lockable room in the basement that I could set up with everything I needed.

Gosh, I'm an American and had my first baby in the US, but my second one abroad. I've almost forgotten how barbaric the US system seems from the perspective here. In the US, I was extremely lucky and had quite a lot of paid mat leave. I ended up resigning to SAH, but I would have been allowed to take up to one hour a day to pump, in addition to having my usual breaks/lunch. Now that I've had a baby here, I see that women in this country get a year of mat leave. Practically every mom in my mommy/baby group is able to breastfeed and there seems to be a ton of support available (LCs, midwives, support groups, etc.) as well as it being no big deal to bf your baby. (I see a lot of boobies in public).

@lawbee11: I just looked into the law a bit more and now I'm wondering if maybe I will be able to just take the time unpaid. That would suck, but it would be better than having to quit before I'm ready.

@cmomma17: YES!!!! It's hard enough to be a working mother (and father) and leave our children during the day, but it can be next to impossible if we're TRYING to do what we believe is best for our child and provide them breastmilk and our work place just doesn't support us at all! And mine is actually better than most in that we JUST built two brand new mother's rooms and HR and my boss have been pretty awesome about my taking time to pump during the day. BUT I had vacation time that I was able to use to make up for all that time I spent pumping AND I was still able to keep on top of my work. But it was still HARD. And you had it even worse with your crappy boss and all your troubles getting a room!

By the way, congratulations on finally finishing pumping this week!!!! It's AMAZING to not have to do it (and that's the main thing I am NOT looking forward to with baby #2)!!