In this parent interview episode, we focus on Emily's experience with returning to work and breastfeeding, specifically going back to work after maternity leave, pumping and continuing to breastfeed her baby. She worked as a hospital pharmacist in a fast-paced and high-pressure role, the type of job where taking a "break" to pump meant leaving extra work her team needed to cover. This is a …
Back to Work
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 85: Alicia’s Returning to Work, Travel and Breastfeeding Story
We have another parent interview episode! We were thrilled when Alicia reached out to us from across the country to offer to share different parts of her feeding journey with baby Grant, especially factors related to returning to work and breastfeeding. We discussed Grant's week-long nursing strike soon after Alicia returned to work, the intense emotions involved, and what helped resolve that …
All Things Breastfeeding 56: New Breast Pumps
New Breast Pumps? What are these new pumps? Jessica and Barbara are going to talk about two types of relatively new pumps that are on the market now. We wanted to make sure that these pumps were reliable before we gave our thoughts. In the pump market that takes 2-3 years! The first few thousand families who buy these pumps are essentially paying for the privilege to be a tester! The …
All Things Breastfeeding 45: Top 5 Breast Feeding Concerns
What are the top 5 breast feeding concerns? Well, we have been busy bees figuring this out and helping to provide information to families! I have spent a lot of time and resources on marketing this past year trying to address the needs of my clients. This means a new website! I have created new sections on the website that address specific topics that many families have concerns about. The top …
Why Women Really Quit Breastfeeding
Why Women Really Quit Breastfeeding When we talk about the reasons mothers quit breastfeeding in the early weeks those reasons are pain and worried about having enough breastmilk. However, after about 7 weeks or so, most of these issues have worked themselves out with time or by getting some expert help from an IBCLC. But then comes the next big challenge just as things are getting …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 43: Jessica’s Working and Breastfeeding Story
Jessica's Working and Breastfeeding Story! We are adding a new type of podcast to our collection beginning with our new intern Jessica! We have been having mothers share their breastfeeding stories but now we want mothers to hear from other mothers about the realities of going back to work while you are breastfeeding. Jessica's working and breastfeeding story is worth the listen as you consider …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 30: Finn’s Nursing Strike
There is nothing worse than a nursing strike! This week on the podcast, Intern Barb tells her experience with a recent nursing strike. Just when breastfeeding was so easy, a new challenge presented itself. It was an extremely emotional experience, and luckily Finn is back to nursing now! Shownotes: If you need more information on nursing …
Travel, Work, and Breastfeeding
Traveling for work has special challenges when you are breastfeeding. Before Your Trip You will need to calculate about how much pumped breastmilk you will need to leave with your baby and their care giver. Do this in advance if at all possible. Estimate about 28 oz of pumped breastmilk per 24 hours for each day you will be separated. You will probably want to leave a bit more than …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 17: Air Travel for Working and Breastfeeding Mothers
This week on the podcast Barbara and Barb continue talking about traveling for breastfeeding mothers. Air travel for working moms is a common reality for many woman who are breastfeeding. There are a lot of logistics to work out! We will discuss important information to help make traveling for work easier for you! Resource of the day: TSA guidelines CDC …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 14: Bottle Feeding Your Baby
This week's podcast episode is for everyone- Bottle feeding breast milk or formula feeding alike. Learning how to bottle feed your baby whether you choose to breastfeed or formula feed is important information for parents and caregivers to have. How you give a bottle matters and we will discuss why! How can you make bottle feeding and breastfeeding work well together? Keep breast feeding the …
Is breastfeeding in public dangerous?
Dangerous? Nursing in public? Give me a moment to explain. In the USA, many people strongly disapprove of breastfeeding in public. And they feel very free to share their opinions to these mothers. No wonder we are worried about doing it! Why does breastfeeding is public bring up such intense emotions? Make people feel so uncomfortable that they feel they need to act? When it comes down to it, …
Size matters! In breastfeeding?
Does it really? Get your mind out of the gutter! We are talking about breastfeeding. And yes! Surprisingly, size does matter in many ways for breastfeeding. Here are five examples. 1. Birth weight. A little baby makes a big difference! One of my girlfriends had a 6 pound baby the first time and an almost 9 pound baby the second time. She was astonished at the difference in her two, baby …
Help for Bottle Feeding Babies!
I just told my husband this morning, "I feel a blog coming on..." Checking through my google alerts this morning, I found a link to this article about adoptive breast feeding and pressure from breast feeding "crazies" (me?). I went to check it out because I have a lovely friend, Alyssa Schnell, who specializes in adoptive breast feeding and I wanted to see if the article might be interesting. I …
Working and Breastfeeding Solutions
The Business Case for Breastfeeding tells us that 80 percent of mothers stop breastfeeding within the first month of returning to work (Cardenas & Major, 2005). Unfortunately, research on returning to work and breastfeeding is limited. There are several critical factors for supporting breastfeeding in employed mothers that I have identified in the literature and my clinical practice. Despite …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 5-All Things Pumping
This week on All Things Breastfeeding, Barbara and Barb talk all things pumping! Whether you are a part time or full time pumping mother, we have information and tips to share with all pumping moms alike. Sit back and listen while you pump....or breastfeed. Either way-Enjoy! Show Notes: 77% of mothers need a larger size breast shield! Reference to this …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 2: Working and Breastfeeding
This week Barbara and Barb talk all about working and breastfeeding including how companies benefit from supporting breastfeeding mothers, what new mothers returning to work can expect, and about how Deborah Norville was treated when she went back to work as a breastfeeding mother back in 1991. Show Notes: *ROI (return on investment) for companies supporting …
About Time! New Protection for Breastfeeding Mothers!
Breastfeeding mothers have it tough. Breastfeeding laws and protection vary from state to state making it hard for a breastfeeding mother to feel confident with what her rights are to provide her milk for her baby. My colleague, Jake Marcus, JD, has a great site which provides all of this information. However, in a new ruling, breastfeeding while working falls under the Pregnancy Discrimination …
Top Five Reasons Mothers Stop Breastfeeding- Don’t Become a Statistic!
1. It hurts! I know people say that pain is normal at the beginning of breastfeeding. I disagree. While it is common for there to be pain in the beginning, it is not normal. It may be sensitive, a bit tender, but not out right pain. If you have pain that is not getting better or getting worse, if you have visible damage, blood, scabbing, blistering, get help! This is not normal. 2. You …
The Secret to Helping Bottle Feed Your Baby
Listen, most mothers go back to work and so most babies need to have a bottle to get through the day while mom is away. Also, once breastfeeding is well established, I find that as long as parents bottle feed in a way that is like breastfeeding there isn't a problem going back and forth between breast and bottle. That is what I am talking about, bottle feeding in a way that helps sustain and …
Working and Breastfeeding: What do Mothers Need?
When a breastfeeding mother returns to work she actually doesn’t need very much from her employer to be successful. Really, working and breastfeeding requires at a minimum; time to remove milk from her breasts, a place to do this, and a way to do it. An employer does need to provide the first two necessities, time and space. However, most mothers expect to provide the means, ie, hands or a …
Working and Breastfeeding in the United States
Many mothers in the US return to work when their babies are quite young. If they are breastfeeding and want to continue to exclusively provide breastmilk for their babies, it can make things more complicated. In most industrialized countries there are laws and governmental policies that help mothers of young children. In Canada for instance, mothers receive 15 weeks of paid leave. After that, …