The Mother’s Room

As a project manager at Hewlett-Packard, I was lucky enough to be in a position where I could schedule meetings around times when I needed to pump. I also have an excellent young boss, very supportive of me doing whatever I needed to do.
 
I went back to work part-time when Kelsey was four months old. My husband would drop her off at a home day care around eight or eight thirty with a frozen bag of milk. The day-care provider would put the milk in her freezer, thaw it out later, and give it to Kelsey. Initially I got off work around noon, so Kelsey was there for a total of twenty-four hours a week. Then, because I got additional benefits if I went back to work for thirty-two hours, I stepped it up. I didn’t go back to full-time until she was just shy of a year old.
 
The company has a special place called the Mother’s Room for nursing moms to pump. You would sign up on the reservation sheet, and there was a sign that would say “In Use.” It had dim lighting, soft couches, and some magazines. It was off one of the bathrooms but had a door you could lock for privacy. I would go in there midmorning. After I pumped, I would freeze the milk (there are freezers all over) and later put it in my freezer at home.
 
I had one of those great Medela pumps, so I could sit down and in twenty minutes pump out eight to ten ounces. I took it back and forth every night because sometimes I would pump at home in the morning. I pumped for a little longer than eight months, and it wasn’t a big deal. –Joan P.
 
Story reprinted with permission from The Breastfeeding Café by Barbara L. Behrmann, Ph.D. www.breastfeedingcafe.com/