Breastfeeding and back to work: how to organize yourself?
Once you go back to work, i.e. after maternity leave, should you stop breastfeeding? This is not necessarily the case because reconciling work and breastfeeding is by no means impossible.
With this article, I want to give advice to all those mothers who return to work still having a small child and who want to continue to have all the benefits that breastfeeding can give.
Breastfeeding permits
Breastfeeding permits are provided for by law which allow you to be absent to breastfeed the baby. The hours of absence remain paid as normal working hours. The main problem is the distance from the workplace and the compatibility with the times of the work itself.
It is much better for those who have the company nursery, who can therefore easily go to their child and then return without making long journeys.
Using the breast pump or expressing
The breast pump, there are many types, allows you to keep your own milk to administer it through the bottle: continuing to breastfeed, giving the expressed milk during your absence with a bottle allows mothers to maintain adequate production and once a home the breast to the baby.
Breast expression is instead done manually, but the result is the same, it’s just usually a little longer.
If you choose this solution, before starting work, you must get the baby used to the bottle by having him breastfeed by another person. The detachment should be gradual, not only for the baby but also so as not to embarrass the person who will have to give him the milk.
How to pump milk
There are two methods of pumping milk: manual expression and a breast pump, which can be manual or electric. Choose together with the midwife what is best for you.
Manual squeezing takes 15 to 20 minutes per side. Total time should be 30-40 minutes. With the electric breast pump, 10-15 minutes per side is enough.
At work, remember to bring a cool bag to store the milk in the meantime you don’t get home and wear comfortable clothing.
During breast expressing
Concentrate on the little one and choose a quiet place. Morning is usually the best time. Apply warm compresses to the breasts before expressing milk; massage it while squeezing and then apply cold and massage towards the lymph nodes of the armpits.
Milk can be expressed from one breast while the baby is feeding on the other.
How to give milk to baby when mom is not there
If the newborn is very small, the milk may not even be given with a bottle but with a syringe, spoon or cup . This is to avoid any negative consequences for breastfeeding which is very delicate in the first few weeks.
When the baby is attached to the breast, he keeps his mouth wide open, his tongue wraps around the nipple and in his mouth not only this but also a large part of the areola is contained and through a wave movement made with the tongue and jaw he is able to drain breast effectively.
With respect to the bottle, on the other hand, the child holds his mouth in a very different way because the tongue is not stretched out and the movement is a simple open and close. Furthermore, a bottle teat is not as soft as a mother’s nipple.
So how can you give milk to your baby without using a bottle? With the shot glass.
Liquor ones are fine. The baby is held in an upright position, and the cup is placed on the lower lip and the milk is brushed on the rim. The baby will thus lick the milk.
If this solution does not convince you, then let’s go back to choosing the bottle and understand how it should be done:
- Avoid bottles with teats with a very wide base and a short, narrow tip
- Avoid teats that are too stiff
- The time to finish it must be in about 15/20 minutes
- Keep the baby as vertical as possible, as if he were sitting, and the bottle in a horizontal position, with the teat always full of milk.
How much milk to offer the baby?
Just do a simple calculation: the baby’s weight, divided by 10 plus 250.
The result is the daily amount to be taken which will be divided by the number of meals. This way you will have a rough idea of how much it should take per feed and therefore how much milk to prepare.
In addition of course to giving it at the next feed, the leftover milk can be used for:
- prepare creams or sweets
- use it instead of creams for red bottom
- in case of conjunctivitis or stuffy nose.
How to get organised?
There are mothers who express their milk and then leave it to those who take care of the baby, other mothers who have a job that allows them to take breaks and go home to breastfeed, others who have their baby brought to the place of Work. Or there are moms who work from home.
Remember that breastfeeding is your right and that you can take advantage of the daily rest periods for breastfeeding.
If, on the other hand, you choose to stop breastfeeding , remember that you must stop gradually to avoid engorgement or mastitis. Get help from a midwife.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.