You're working. You're breastfeeding. How to do both.

Tag : Women Pumps
Life has been topsy-turvy for Herrin resident, Brandi Campbell,ever since the birth of her son, Nate, in July of last year.

"I pretty much said I was going to breastfeed him, whatever ittakes," Brandi says.

A social worker by profession, Brandi travels through sevencounties on a regular basis, seeing children in foster care. She isconstantly on the move, visiting foster homes, schools, jails andcourtrooms as part of her job.

Often she has no place private to pump breast milk, something shehas to do every four hours or so.

"I resort to pumping in random places, sometimes in the car orat the courthouse," Brandi says. "The key is to beconfident about it. I'll walk into an office in the courthouse or aschool and tell them I'm a breastfeeding mom and need a room orprivate space to pump breast milk in. Where can I do this at?People will often vacate a room to help me out."

Brandi continues to breastfeed 13-month-old Nate today, more forthe connection and comfort it brings than for nutrition, sheadmits.

For mothers who plan to return to the workplace or attend schoolafter the birth of their baby, pumping their breast milk at regularintervals and storing the expressed milk, until it can be fed tothe baby later, is often a way of life.

"A lot of times you can almost bypass pumping at work,"says Joyce Shepherd, one of the leaders of the Jackson CountyChapter of the La Leche League, an international, nonprofitorganization dedicated to helping mothers who want to breastfeedtheir infants.

Since milk volume is greater in the morning, Shepherd says it ispossible to get two pumpings in, if you pump when you first wake upand just before you leave the house.

"Pump again around lunchtime and again when you reunite withbaby in the evening," Shepherd says.

The only natural, complete and complex food for infants, breastmilk provides nutritional, health, developmental and emotionalbenefits that have been well documented.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies be exclusivelybreastfed for the first six months, and ideally, breastfeedingshould continue for the first 12 months of life.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recentlyreported more moms than ever give breastfeeding a try, a newnational study from Brigham Young University (BYU) shows only 36percent of babies are breastfed through six months. The study foundthree out of four new mothers try breastfeeding over the bottle,but most of them have quit by the time the baby reaches six months.

"Breastfeeding is a wonderful opportunity that occurs once ina lifetime," says. Nancy Armstrong, a maternal child healtheducator at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. "Every womanought to look into it and try it."

Armstrong, who is an International Board Certified LactationConsultant (IBCLC), points out that a new mother is going to betired, whether she breastfeeds or not. "That's why she needscheerleaders in the form of family, friends, employer and thedaycare, in terms of support," she says.

Among the reasons Armstrong cites for new mothers giving upbreastfeeding are commitment issues and vulnerability tomisinformation.

"The first three to four days are critical for establishinggood milk supply," Armstrong says. "Often mothers are notprepared for the commitment it takes. Other times, they arevulnerable to misinformation given by well-meaning friends andfamily, who may say breast milk needs to be supplemented withformula."

Armstrong believes there is a time and place for formula, and itshould be assessed by the physician. "Mother nature designedthe mother to make enough milk for her young," Armstrong says."We should stop interfering and let the natural process ofbreastfeeding occur."

With a wide range of breast pumps available in the market, rangingfrom manual pumps to electric pumps, to even hands-free, automaticpumps, new mothers have a lot of options. Compared to the cost offormula, which may work out to more than $100 a month, even atop-of-the-line pump is easy to afford, experts say.

"We have come eons from how pumps were designed 30 yearsago," Armstrong says. "There are pumps that arehands-free today, and they fit into a nursing bra. There arecomputerized pumps that mimic the baby's suckling rhythm. They aredesigned to be efficient, fast, gentle and painless."

Pumps may be bought or rented from a lactation consultant at alocal hospital, from a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program atyour local public health office or from a breastfeedingorganization.

"The most important thing is to fall in love with yourbaby," Armstrong says. "Celebrate whatever amount of timeyou were able to breastfeed. If you have truly tried your best andfind it impossible to continue breastfeeding after a point, don'tfeel guilty. Celebrate what you were able to give your baby."

poornima.jayaraman@thesouthern.com / 351-5019

Did you know?

Many employers in Illinois are unaware of the Nursing Mothers inthe Workplace Act, which requires that employers provide reasonableunpaid break time each day to employees who need to express breastmilk.

The law also requires employers to make reasonable efforts toprovide a room or other location, other than a toilet stall, wherean employee can express her milk in privacy.

- Poornima Jayaraman

Breastfeeding is Smart Business Award

Saundra Popejoy, a cardiology assistant at Memorial Hospital ofCarbondale, found it easy to return to work after giving birth toTaylor Stone-Popejoy, a year and a half ago.

"They have a breastfeeding room at the hospital where I work,and it's private, comfortable and just what a nursing mother likeme needed," Sandra says. "I would visit the room everycouple of hours and pump my breasts. They even had extra bottles incase you forgot to bring yours to work."

Recognized for being model workplaces for accommodating nursingmothers, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and St. Joseph MemorialHospital recently received a gold and silver "Breastfeeding isSmart Business Award" respectively from the IllinoisBreastfeeding Task Force.

The two hospitals offer a clean, private area with chairs and arefrigerator for new mothers to pump breast milk.

"The hospital has been very supportive of its employees whoare new mothers," says Nancy Armstrong, a maternal childhealth educator at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. "The awardis well-deserved."

- Poornima Jayaraman