Breastfeeding And The Working Mom

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Breastfeeding provides many benefits for your baby and for you. Breast milk provides the nutrients your baby needs. It also helps protect your baby from many health problems and reduces your risk of certain cancers. Many employers support breastfeeding in the workplace. Talk to your boss about your breastfeeding needs and take maternity leave. Express and store a supply of breast milk before you go back to work. A little planning can help you balance work and breastfeeding your baby.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take your medicine as directed:

Call your primary healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not working as expected. Tell him if you are allergic to any medicine. Keep a current list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs you take. Include the amounts, and when, how, and why you take them. Take the list or the pill bottles to follow-up visits. Carry your medicine list with you in case of an emergency. Throw away old medicine lists.

Ask for information about where and when to go for follow-up visits:

For continuing care, treatments, or home services, ask for more information.

Benefits of breastfeeding when working:

Breastfeeding provides many benefits for you and your baby:

• Benefits for your baby: Breast milk is the best food for your baby. It gives your baby the nutrients he needs. Breast milk also helps protect your baby from many health problems. These include ear infections, digestive (stomach) problems, and respiratory (breathing) problems. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). To get the most benefit, feed your baby only breast milk for the first six months.
  
  
• Benefits for you: Breastfeeding reduces your risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Breastfeeding also helps you bond with your baby. Breastfeeding is less expensive and easier than using baby formula. Breastfed babies tend to be healthier, so you may have fewer work absences caused by child illness. You may also work better and be happier with your job if you can breastfeed.

How to balance breastfeeding and working:

With a little planning, you can balance breastfeeding and working. The following tips may help make breastfeeding easier when working:

• Talk to your boss about your breastfeeding needs. You may need a private lactation (breastfeeding) room with a locking door. The room should have a chair and a sink nearby for washing pumping equipment and hands. A bathroom is not the best place to pump because germs could get into the breast milk. You will need a refrigerator to store breast milk after pumping.
  
  
• Take as much maternity leave as you can. Maternity leave may help you set up a regular breastfeeding schedule. It may also give you time to resolve any trouble you may have with breastfeeding.
  
  
• Express and store your breast milk. When you express, you remove milk from your breasts. If you cannot breastfeed your baby at work, expressing your breast milk is a good choice. Expressing your milk helps your breasts continue to make milk. Expressing allows your childcare provider to bottle-feed stored breast milk to your baby while you are at work. You may need to express as often as your baby would breastfeed. Stored milk also can serve as a backup supply if your milk supply becomes low. Ask your caregiver for more information on expressing, collecting, and storing breast milk.
  
  
• Look into a different work schedule. Work from home or work part-time if you can. If you work full-time, try to find a childcare center near your work. If possible, choose one that is close enough so you can go there to breastfeed your baby during the day. Another option is to have your baby brought to your work when it is time to breastfeed.
  
  
• Try a different nursing cycle. You may want to try breastfeeding your baby less during your work hours and more when you are home. For example, if you work during the day, breastfeed your baby in the morning before work. Pump or express milk while you are at work. Breastfeed him in the evening when you get home from work and during the night. Your baby may sleep more and eat less while you are at work. Stored breast milk or baby formula may be used during the other feedings.

CONTACT A CAREGIVER IF:

• You have a fever (increased body temperature).
  
  
• Your body feels very achy.
  
  
• You feel you are not making enough breast milk for your baby.
  
  
• One or both of your breasts is very swollen or painful and keeps you from breastfeeding.
  
  
• You see or feel a lump in your breast. The lump may be tender (painful when touched).
  
  
• One or both of your breasts is red, swollen or hard, painful, and feels warm or hot.
  
  
• You are feeling very depressed (deep sadness).
  
  
• You have questions about breastfeeding and going back to work.

SEEK CARE IMMEDIATELY IF:

• Your baby shows signs of dehydration, such as sunken eyes, dry skin, fast breathing, or few or no wet diapers. He may also act very tired, irritable, or unwell, or he may not be responding to you. He may also have a very fast heartbeat.
  
  
• You are feeling so sad that you want to hurt your baby or yourself.

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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.