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Working And BreastfeedingThink they don't mix? Nope...it's possible!
Breastfeeding is often not encouraged in the work place. But with determination and some extra effort, we often see working mamas happily working and breastfeeding. I'm glad that we are given at least 60 days maternity leaves under our labor law (Malaysia and Singapore). At least we can be with the baby and breastfeed them for the first 2 months. But what about after the leaves over and we are back to the work place? Can we still breastfeed? If yes, how? If not, aren't our babies deprived of the best food they ever need and our breasts become engorged? How do we cope? Let me stress this: Yes, we can breastfeed and still have our job, and we can have our job and still breastfeed. In other words, we can do both at the same time.
I was a full-time working mom and during my maternity leaves at home, I'd exclusively breastfed my baby (for both Adriel and Jeriel). The feeling was so good...to be able to look after the baby and to breastfeed him, knowing that he would get the best from me. However, 2 weeks before my 2-month maternity leaves ended, I'd this predicament. I wanted to continue breastfeeding the baby, but I didn't know how I could do it after going back to work. I was not prepared at all. After thinking hard and discussing with my boss, he granted me another month of annual leave to be at home with my baby. I must say that he was such a good and understanding boss. I was so grateful for his willingness to let me off for another month.
During my third month at home, I was more prepared and started to get ready for the breastfeeding gear I needed for expressing breast milk in the work place. I got a Pigeon electric breast pump, a bag of 20-piece disposable breast pads, about 10 baby bottles, a steam sterilizer to sterilize the bottles, a small picnic cooler and 3 frozen ice packs for the cooler. Was that all I needed to do? Not really. 2 weeks before the leave ended, I gradually set a more scheduled breastfeeding routine as if I was at work. I expressed out the breast milk in between feeds and stored them in the freezer. And also tried not to completely feed my baby on demand directly from the breast, but from the bottle.
Changing the baby's feeding pattern is the most difficult part to settle. A breastfed baby who is so used to the breast may not like the idea of feeding from the bottle, even though the milk is also breast milk. The feeling is simply not the same. However, we need to train our babies to get used to the bottle! Actually, it broke my heart when my baby rejected the bottle initially. At times I put aside the bottle and let him sucked contentedly from the breasts. I would say this is all mamas' instinct. However, for the baby's own good, I got to train him to feed from the bottle. It was not easy but eventually he accepted it as if he knew during certain times of the day, only bottle was offered.
Before I went to work in the morning, I would breastfeed the baby and empty the breasts. This would give room for the next milk production a few hours later. Usually before lunch time, my breasts would be engorged. And I would pump out the breast milk in one of the training rooms in the office. It was fortunate that we have plenty of such training rooms in the office (my company is also a training centre). I simply chose a vacant room and did my pumping. The pumping session usually took about half an hour or so. After that, I would store the bottle of expressed breast milk in the small cooler I brought along to work. Guess how much milk I got? On good days, one full bottle, about 12oz or 240ml, and bad days around 6oz or 180ml from both breasts! And towards the evening, my breasts engorged again. This time I would not pump out. Instead, I went home and breastfed the baby directly. It was such a joy to feel the baby again and to see him happily sucking the much awaited breasts!
Whatever we do, it's good to have our colleagues' help and support. The same goes for breastfeeding at work. We don't really have to tell them the long list of benefits of breastfeeding. Let them see the baby's cute pictures, tell them how healthy the baby is, talk to them how you feel about breastfeeding and your decision to give your baby the best. You'll see that you are not alone to make your breastfeeding at work a success. My colleagues used to get me lunch voluntarily during lunch time while I was having my pumping session, so that I could have my lunch after pumping. They would ask, "hey, how's production? Is it good or bad?" Then I would let them see the full bottle. "Wow!!" was the usual reply from all the curious faces!
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