Muchas mujeres dejan de amamantar cuando regresan al trabajo. Es posible que no tengan el apoyo de su empleador, que se sientan incómodos bombeando cerca de sus compañeros de trabajo o que simplemente encuentren todo el proceso demasiado difícil. Estas razones son completamente legítimas, pero con un poco de preparación y educación, no tienen que ser parte de tu experiencia.
Si planeas amamantar, en algún momento en el futuro necesitarás respuestas a las siguientes preguntas. Algunas de las respuestas pueden variar según tu situación individual, pero esto es lo que toda madre debe saber antes de bombear en el lugar de trabajo..
¿Dónde voy a bombear?
Si se encuentra en los EE. UU., Su empleador tiene la obligación legal de proporcionarle un período de tiempo razonable (aunque no necesariamente pagado) para extraer la leche. Su empleador también está legalmente obligado a proporcionarle un lugar privado para bombear que no sea un baño. Puedes leer sobre estas leyes
here. Y para un práctico PDF que puede descargar o imprimir, siga
este enlace. Otras leyes de lactancia tienden a variar según el estado, y usted puede investigar las leyes de su estadoaquí.
Cuando se trata de tu empleador en específico, si no tuviste una conversación con ellos acerca de estos detalles antes de tu licencia, investiga un poco para averiguar qué ofrecen en cuanto un espacio para bombeo y las comodidades. ¿Puedes bombear en tu propia oficina? ¿Qué hacen otras madres que amamantan en su lugar de trabajo? Si ninguna de estas preguntas ayuda, hable con Recursos Humanos. Podría haber una sala de bombeo secreta que no has notado antes.
¿Cómo será mi horario de bombeo?
Si bien el bebé tiene menos de seis meses de edad, necesitarás bombear cada tres horas más o menos. Y probablemente te llevará entre 20 y 30 minutos terminar cada sesión de bombeo. Al planificar tu horario, asegúrete de tener en cuenta también tu tiempo de viaje; un día laboral de 8 horas generalmente requiere un tiempo adicional para ir y venir al trabajo y al hogar.
Una vez que se hayas determinado cuanto dura un día típico para tí, es útil programar, sí, programar, el tiempo en tu calendario diario para que un horario fijo para bombear sea definitivamente para tí. También querrás hablar con tu empleador sobre estos detalles, solo para que algunas de las artes necesarias (jefes, compañeros de trabajo y otros) sepan que tu tiempo de extracción es una prioridad.
¿Qué necesitaré traer al trabajo?
Si no eres el tipo de persona que planifica su atuendo y empaca su bolso la noche anterior, ¡definitivamente es el momento de intentar tomar este hábito! Estos son los elementos esenciales de bombeo que necesitará empacar con anticipación (teniendo en cuenta que podría necesitar una bolsa por separado):
- Breast pump and pump parts
- Soft cooler, labeled with your name, for storing milk
- Ice pack for keeping milk cool during your commute
- Bottles or bags for storing milk, also labeled if they’re not going in a cooler
- Sealable plastic bag for wet pump parts
- Nursing or pumping bra, milk pads, and nipple cream
- A sweater, shawl, or small blanket
- Amenities like paper towels, an extension cord, wipes or hand sanitizer
- Your own lunch and a water bottle (or two – hydration is super important while breastfeeding!)
- Snacks – lots and lots of snacks
Where and how should I store my milk?
Once you return to work, plan to use clean containers (the aforementioned bottles or bags) that are sturdy and have no chance of leaking. Label your expressed milk with the day and month, and then store it in a fridge or in an insulated cooler bag if you don’t have an available fridge (which is why it’s important to know ahead of time if you’ll have access to a fridge).
- Fridge: Put the bottles or bags in a soft cooler bag and store it in the back of the fridge. If you have to store your milk in the front part of a refrigerator, it will still be safe, but try to put it in the back so that the temperature doesn’t fluctuate as much when the door opens.
- Insulated cooler bag: You’ll want to make sure there are plenty of ice packs in the bag, and that they’re physically surrounding the milk to keep it cold all day.
How will I keep everything clean?
To prevent germs from being spread to your breast milk, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you always wash your hands before pumping, hand expressing, and touching or moving breast milk.
In between pumping sessions, you’ll need to wash the pumping parts in an available sink or wipe them with a sanitizing wipe (so you’ll also want to know ahead of time if you’ll have access to a sink). You can then keep the cleaned parts in a sealable bag in between sessions.
What should I do with everything at the end of the day?
On your commute home, keep your milk sealed and cold in the insulated cooler. Once you get home, refrigerate or freeze your milk (remember to make sure it’s labeled with the date!) and wash the pumping parts thoroughly. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, this means:
- Washing your hands
- Taking all the parts apart
- Rinsing each part with running water
- If you’re hand washing: using a clean brush and a clean wash basin to scrub parts with hot water and soap, and regularly cleaning the wash basin and brush
- If you’re dish washing: putting parts in the dishwasher (carefully, so as not to let any small parts get lost in the machine) and running a hot water and heated drying cycle
- Air-drying parts very, very thoroughly
- When pump parts are dry, sanitizing (this means steaming or boiling) parts at least once a day
Remember…
- It gets easier: Just like with breastfeeding, for many women pumping starts out hard and then gets easier as time goes on. This is really important to remember if you find yourself struggling in the early days and wonder if pumping is just not meant for you. In those times, it could really help to enlist the aid of a lactation consultant or to ask your healthcare provider for assistance or support.
- Be your own advocate: If you find out that you don’t have a room or even a suitable space to pump in, be your own advocate and ask HR for what you need. It’s entirely possible that your employer has never been asked about a pumping room before, in which case you’d be doing the other soon-to-be-moms in your office a huge favor. Again, having these conversations before you return is important so that the details of where and when you’ll pump are clear, and so you don’t face any surprises once you’re back. Once you do return, it’s up to you to be steadfast about not skipping pumping breaks or going an extra thirty minutes before pumping just because of someone else’s request. Baby needs that milk, and you’ll be uncomfortable or even engorged if you skip pumping sessions.
- HR is your friend: Once you’re back on the job and pumping regularly, go straight to human resources if you have any issues whatsoever with coworkers, your time, your space, your milk storage – anything! Maybe people keep barging into your pumping area, or they aren’t respecting your scheduled pumping times. Maybe someone says something that just rubs you the wrong way. These are worst-case scenarios that you probably won’t have to deal with, but if situations like these spring up, send an e-mail (and begin a paper trail!) explaining the situation to HR, and then meet with your HR representative. A lot of people don’t understand what pumping entails, and you might get some insensitive comments or outrageous requests. Hopefully this won’t happen – especially if your employer is family-friendly and understanding – but keep this option in mind always.
What you can do, right now, to prepare for your return
Whether you plan to return to work next week or next month, here are your next steps for preparing to pump at work.
- Get the necessary equipment: If you haven’t got a breast pump yet, now is the time to do so. While U.S. law mandates that new moms get free breast pumps through their insurer and some women can get them during pregnancy, other insurers won’t ship pumps until after a little one is born. So get the pump you need, as well as any extra accessories you’ll need to safely transport breast milk from your workplace to Baby back home – accesories like ice packs, a soft cooler, and the like.
- Practice pumping at home: If you’ve been exclusively breastfeeding Baby thus far, take some time to get familiar with all of your pumping equipment, since you don’t want to be using it for the first time when you return to work. The more practice you get using it now in the comfort of your home, the better shape you’ll be in when you’re pumping at work.
- Tell your employer your plans: If you’re planning on breastfeeding, make sure that your employer – possibly HR – has provided you with information on where you’ll pump and what sort of extras – like a fridge or a sink – will be available to you. You should also explain the basics of what breastfeeding will entail to your supervisor before you return so that expectations about taking breaks to pump are clear. And make sure to go into these conversations with confidence. You’ve got this under control!
- Find an office buddy who is also breastfeeding: If you work somewhere big enough to make this possible, it can be helpful to team up with any other new moms or pregnant women at your job. You can advocate for each other and, if necessary, switch off pumping times so you can cover for each other. If you’re friendly with these folks, you might even be able to start these conversations and share info on pumping at work before your return to work.
It’s not always easy, but breastfeeding while working is doable. Sometimes stressful? Yes. Rewarding? Absolutely. The benefits of breastfeeding are enormous, so if you are planning on breastfeeding and going back to work, know that you’ve got this in the bag. The breast pump bag, that is!
Sources
- «Breastfeeding Report Card.» Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, July 2014. Retrieved July 26 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2014breastfeedingreportcard.pdf.
- «How to Keep Your Breast Pump Kit Clean: The Essentials.» Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: National Center for Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, July 15 2017. Retrieved July 26 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/healthychildcare/infantfeeding/breastpump.html.
- Wendy Wright. «Pumping Strategies for the Working Mother.» Lactation Matters. International Lactation Consultant Association, May 17 2012. Retrieved July 27 2017. https://lactationmatters.org/2012/05/17/pumping-strategies-for-the-working-mother/.
- «Making it work: For Moms.» BreastfeedingPartners. New York State Department of Health and New York State WIC. Retrieved July 27 2017. http://www.breastfeedingpartners.org/images/pdf/ForMomsFINAL.pdf.
- «Proper Handling and Storage of Human Milk.» Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, July 24 2017. Retrieved July 26 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/handling_breastmilk.htm.
