Support Breastfeeding Mothers! Share Your Story!
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Posted August 30th, 2007 by Kristin
SHARE YOUR STORY HERE (and read others): Have you juggled breastfeeding and work? How did it go? Share your stories from the frontline of motherhood here! (And, while you're at it you can sign the Statement of Support for Breastfeeding Mothers now by clicking here.) *How to share your experiences: If you're on the homepage, then just click the blog title above, or click on the "Read full post" link below to get to the blog page for sharing. To add your story, scroll down to the end of this blog--through all of the comments/blog text--to the "Post a Comment" section. Fill in the blanks with your text. Then when you are finished don't forget to click the "Post Comment" button at the very bottom of the page.
Women shouldn't be discriminated against simply because they are mothers... but they are! Read about true experiences of American mothers, and learn how shared problems can be solved. Members can download the first chapter of the book today.
Do principals truly care for kids?
I have 2 children and have breastfed both of my children. I breastfed my son for 2 years and am currently breastfeeding my 6 month old daughter. I plan on continuing to breastfeed my daughter well past her 1st birthday.
Not only am I a mother, I am also a 2nd grade teacher at a year-round school. I took 7 weeks for maternity leave. When I returned to work I worked out a pumping schedule with my coworkers and principals. While my students were out at recess I pumped. I also pumped during my lunch and while my students were at specials. Another 2nd grade teacher also recently gave birth and we decided to cover each other's classes so that we could take turns pumping. This seemed to be working well for both of us, our students, our 2nd grade team members, and our principals. A few weeks ago, while my teammate was off-track, our Assistant Principal decided to provide coverage for me so I could pump before recess and assist with recess duty. An Educational Assistant stayed with my students during their 15 minute snack time before recess.
I am now off-track and thought that when I returned to work I would have the ability to pump in the morning, as I did before I went off-track. However, I was wrong, very wrong. It turns out that my Assistant Principal went to HR to find out what he had to legally provide for us nursing moms. He was told that he didn't have to provide us anything. So, he took it upon himself to tell my coworker and I that we'll "have to work it out with our bodies and babies" to do without pumping in the morning. We can pump during our "off time" at lunch and specials, but he can no longer provide coverage for us in the morning. That means we will not be able to pump for 5 plus hours! Considering that both of our daughters still nurse every 3 hours, we're in for a lot of pain and possibly decreased milk supply. This is not something either of us want our bodies or babies to "work out". Feeding formula to my baby is not an option for me. My son was only given breastmilk for the first year of his life, and continued to nurse until he was almost 2. He is now a healthy 3 year old who has never had an ear infection and only a handful of colds. I want to same for my daughter.
How can it be that I work in a place that nurtures and cares for children on a daily basis yet denies me the right to nurture my own child? I wonder, "Does my Assistant Principal truly care for kids?" Perhaps he only cares for his own 3 kids since his wife has the luxury of being able to stay at home with their children? Is it right for me to deny my child the nutrition of my breastmilk because it's inconvenient for my Assistant Principal? What kind of message is this sending? "Take care of these 26 students in your class by giving them a high quality education. However, your child doesn't need your nurturing and nutritious breastmilk." Don't we live in an educated society?
It is important that women are given the legal right to breastfeed and nurse their children at their place of employment. Please support babies and mothers by asking your representative to sponsor HR 2236. My daughter and I thank you for your support in our mission to continue providing the best nutrition possible for babies everywhere!
Breastfeeding at work
When I returned to work, I got mastitus my first day back. I am fortunate enough to have the privacy and freedom to pump in my own office. Nonetheless, the transition was hard on me and my son. I left 30 minutes early my first day to get to the doctor and missed the next day per my doctor's instructions. My boss (the board chair) became angry and implied that I was disloyal. He said that he, "had a hard time with the fact that I worked out a 3 month maternity leave for you [me], and your first week back you miss work for a so called female illness".
Additionally, I had a history of working one day a week from home (for the past couple years). When I presumed that I would continue to do this, the board chair again questioned me. Saying, "You had 3 months to work out child care and get your son adjusted. How was it that you now need to work from home sometimes?"
My son (who was 3 months old) had been born about 3.5 weeks early. He had a 6 day NICU stay, and we got off to a rough start with breastfeeding. When we started him in day care, he did badly; he cried a lot and wouldn't take a bottle for the care provider. I'd hoped to ease back into work by working 32 or 36 hours a week to start (with 8 at home), and adjusting to full time over 6 months or so. I was told that I could do that if my family was now a bigger priority to me than my work, but that I couldn't stay in my current position. Since I'm the executive director of a small non-profit, this could only mean a demotion.
Since our organization's mission is to stabilize and care for families with children, I was naturally upset to learn that the board chair was not willing to allow me to care for my own family the way I needed to. I'm willing to work with my staff to allow them to care for their families (including allowing one mom to go to a 30 hour schedule for about 6 months after her maternity leave), yet he was claiming that to allow me to care for my family would be to set a precedence that we couldn't follow with other staff. In my line of work, I see a lot of parents who are in crisis because they lose their jobs, are skipped for promotions or are forced to take unpaid time off work to take care of their families.
Clearly, we need better policies to support and protect parents, and allow them to care for their families. From what I can tell, the US is way behind other developed nations in supporting and promoting breastfeeding, in parental leave, and other pro-family policies. We can do better, and we must- on an individual level and nationally.
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