Motherhood is the greatest gift any woman can ever receive. Being a mother brings along with it several responsibilities and for the modern day working moms this means managing both, their work and their babies effectively. After a general consideration of three months after the child’s birth, when moms return to their work, they have to take care of their li’l one’s milk supply.
With the fact that breast milk is the best for a child, many mothers tend to express their milk through breast pumps to either maintain a supply for their child or to deal with their breast engorgement. In any case, this is not at all easy and happening for these moms. Read below to know about the various difficulties faced by pumping moms.
Lack of clean, private space at workplace
Breast pumping is a daunting task that requires extreme privacy without being disturbed. It is because of two main reasons. First, while pumping, woman has to be half bare with her pumping attachments on. Secondly, continuous disturbance has an adverse affect over the pumping mom’s mind, which might result in decrease in the production of milk thereby pumping less milk than required.
However, the most terrifying nightmares of a pumping mom turn out to be true when someone simply walks in while she is expressing her milk with her nipples elongated out of a hand free bra. The inconvenience caused to these women due to lack of privacy is extremely discomforting.
What could be more troubling than pumping milk for your baby while sitting on a garbage can? Yes this is what happens when mothers are not allowed a separate cabin or office for their pumping sessions. They have to end up doing the process elsewhere like the store room or even the bathroom in the worst scenario.
Annoying comments and neglect of the co-workers
For working mothers support from their colleagues is a great advantage. However, not all working places have this kind of atmosphere. There are many women who get to hear comments that say, “Just because she is breast feeding, does she deserve extra breaks?” this makes a woman feel guilty over what is her right.
In other incidences carelessness of co-workers such as leaving the office fridge open which also stores bottles of your breast milk results in great loss pf the precious mother resource.
Screaming breast pumps
Breast pumps make absurd noises while they express milk. This causes mental and sleeping disturbances to the expressing mother. The noise can be a big problem at the workplace.
Leaving the pump at home
Mothers who have an abundant supply of milk can face severe pain and engorgement when their breasts enlarge and become full and they eventually realize that the pump has been left at home.
Extra luggage
The pumping arsenal consists of breast pumps, feeding bottles, hands free bra, breast shield and a big cooler too. With so many things around it becomes very difficult to carry the entire package and this becomes even worst when people make annoying comments on the same.
These are only very few of the several problems that are faced by working and pumping moms including, unawareness of laws, unavailability of ample pumping time, loss of wages and wrong breast adjustment (the worst of all).