- Updated on Jul 25, 2024
Article written by @selma_bienetre, Naturopath and mom of baby Lana
@ juli_etta._
This topic is one of the (if not the) most stressful subjects for a new mom on maternity leave. Even before giving birth, we think about returning to work, and after delivery, we try to enjoy but watch the clock ticking, like a pressure cooker ready to explode.
I've heard so many "No, but are you really going to keep breastfeeding after your maternity leave?! You're crazy! You'll be exhausted."
Let's admit it, breastfeeding usually takes time to get established and to be enjoyed: in the first weeks, you feel a bit like a prisoner of your baby who demands you 24/7, sometimes you feel some pain and often feel lost in this new role as a mom. Then come the growth spurts that test our limits, push us to the edge, and make us lose all confidence in ourselves. Fortunately, the feedings eventually become pleasant. Each one becomes a timeless moment, a privilege, an exchange of tenderness, love, and bonding with your baby. For several minutes, our eyes meet, a little smile as thanks, a hand placed on the chest as if to say “I know mom, you give me a lot, I see that you want the best for me and I love you for that.”
Except that, when it becomes nice, we usually have to go back to work, put on our new hat of “working mama”. Then comes the dilemma: Continue or stop?
Personally, I chose to continue. I knew I might get tired but I chose to believe in it. So of course, my words do not judge at all those who decided to stop the journey at this stage and even less those who decided never to breastfeed. I remain convinced that it is better to keep good memories and that every mother, breastfeeding or not, is the best for her child.
The only problem when you decide to breastfeed and work is that you are very little or not accompanied at all and there is very little information available.
I will present to you what worked for me, who has now been back from leave for 2 months and continues the breastfeeding journey with my daughter.
Prepare yourself but not too much! Let me explain: Don't hesitate to contact lactation consultants, they will give you the best personalized advice but don't think about it so much that you lose sleep. Don't look too much for information on breastfeeding groups, you will mostly find very strict and extreme ideas. I have read there “No bottle! No pacifier! Give in a cup, a glass or whatever”. For example, don't feel guilty because your baby won't be breastfed during your absence: I have too often read that a baby who took the bottle was heading straight for confusion, that he would detach and would no longer accept the breast once home. That may sometimes be true but it is mostly often very false.
I think the time and energy lost thinking and worrying about maintaining breastfeeding greatly contribute to mothers giving up.
For my part, the day before returning to work, I had no stock but I had prepared my body to make one, calmly and without stress. How? I took advantage of my baby's 3 a.m. wake-up to, after offering him one breast, pump from the other side. So I got my body used to it. I repeated the exercise at the 7 a.m. wake-up. The secret is to be consistent; take a moment, always the same one, every day at the same time, to pump your milk. Our body is incredible, its memory is infallible and its design perfect: the more you empty your breast, the more milk you produce. Be careful though about overproduction which could cause engorgement and mastitis!
To avoid a drop in lactation during working hours, I made sure to pump my milk every 3 hours.
At first, I pumped in the bathroom but I quickly felt bad... I kind of felt like I was doing something wrong, hiding, and honestly it was neither pleasant nor hygienic! I was lucky to meet a colleague who saw me, storage bag in hand, tiptoeing out of the bathroom, and said to me “what are you doing? Didn't you ask to be given a room to pump your milk quietly?”. I will never thank her enough, she made me confident in my choice and also made me realize that I had the RIGHT to continue breastfeeding and that I absolutely should not hide it.
Pumping your milk regularly during the day is, I think, one of the most important steps if you want to maintain your breastfeeding: keep stimulating your lactation. This will not only allow your baby to benefit from the milk pumped the day before but will also ensure your production.
I also really want to emphasize the importance of trusting yourself. And being proud of what you do. Be confident in your choice because it is your right and your employer should understand that. Moreover, the law is on our side. The working world is evolving and many women would have dreamed of being in our place, they would have dreamed of having the possibility to balance their professional life and their role as a mom. No mother is perfect and giving a bottle of your milk will not make you a bad mom and SPOILER : in most cases, your baby will not refuse the breast for that. You are their refuge, their pillar, the person they will continue to snuggle with and that is, in my opinion, more than enough to hold on. It won't be easy every day, sometimes you'll want to give up, cry, or explode and that's NORMAL!
No return to work after childbirth is easy; we face a new life, we relearn how to live, we rediscover ourselves. My manager recently told me that breastfeeding represents nearly 1800 hours per year while a full-time job equals 1950 hours. It's extra work! But the game is so worth the candle.
I love finishing my work, closing the computer, reuniting with my baby and offering her my breast. We reconnect, we've missed each other, I tell her about my day, she looks at me with her big eyes, her hand resting on my chest, a few smiles at times; I understand every time that I did well to hold on.
It's up to us to support each other, to relieve our guilt, and to make sure that a breastfeeding mom who also chooses to work becomes the norm!
Welcome back to work dear mamas <3
