Baltimore’s Health commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen recently wrote an editorial for NPR about her experience with breastfeeding and how it helped to elucidate for her the need for policy change.
I came to advocate for breastfeeding in a similar way. I had my first child in 2014. As someone who had watched my mother and my sisters and close friends breastfeed, I always just assumed I would breastfeed my children. I had every advantage to set me up for success in breastfeeding. I had a public health background and was currently working in breast cancer research, so I was aware of the health benefits for me and my child of breastfeeding. I had background in reproductive justice and had a positive body image and confidence in advocating for myself. I delivered in a Baby Friendly Hospital, where my child was put to the breast moments after he was delivered and had no issues learning to feed. The hospital had an active and popular listserv for women who delivered there to discuss breastfeeding and other parenting challenges, as well as prenatal and postpartum breastfeeding classes I attended. My supply of milk sated my baby’s hunger and I had no medical concerns or complications with breastfeeding. I had a supportive husband, who encouraged me to breastfeed and was an active partner in caring for our son. I was fortunate enough not to suffer postpartum depression. Every new mother I knew in my community breastfed their baby so it felt normal and accepted. I was able to take three months of maternity leave and returned to work for a female boss, who had breastfed three children, and supportive female coworkers. I was able to hire a supportive family member to care for my son in my home while I was at work. My workplace had a lactation room with hospital grade pumps and I had the flexibility in my work to take breaks to use it.
Still, breastfeeding was far more challenging than I expected. At first, I was surprised by the sheer amount of time I spent with my child at the breast. It felt like all I did was nurse. I was exhausted and touch fatigued. Later, trying to balance a full-time job, part-time Master’s program, and the responsibilities of parenthood felt impossible. Making the space to take myself to the lactation room multiple times a day for months felt imperative for me and I was determined to make it work, but it constantly felt challenging. Stopping work every few hours to pump certainly was not a “break” but the fulfillment of an obligation to my family and myself. It wasn’t diverting or relaxing, but an uncomfortable and tedious physical task.
I spoke to friends and found that so many other mothers had similar feelings of surprise that pumping at work was one of the most difficult experiences of new parenthood. They talked about the feelings of isolations they experienced in realizing they had to advocate for themselves to get the accommodations they needed to make it easier to pump at work and wonder that the policies and supports offered them were so mean and meager. Yet, they were grateful for any accommodation, because they all knew other mothers who had less support and more challenges and were making it work despite barriers.
I came to this work because I believe it is time to move past requiring women to individually advocate for themselves in order to receive accommodation and support for lactating at work. In every industry, we know women who work will have babies and expect to breastfeed. They need space and policies to allow them to do that. We shouldn’t be basing plans on individual requests because we know that is a formula for creating disparate, inequitable accommodations. Instead, we should aim to create an infrastructure that reflects that we value and honor women and their contributions to both the economy and the health of their families.