Hi Diane. Thanks for reposting this question because I did not see it the first time. I hope others respond as well. I thought about the question you raise. But, then I remembered back to my own situation - my daughter was 9 months old when I took the bar and I very much felt as if I needed accomodation, even then. While each testing session is only three hours, you must be in your seat thirty minutes early to listen to instructions, etc. Plus, the testing center is a room with approximately 10,000 people in it, which would make getting from the location where you would be pumping and back to the location where you would be pumping take a bit of time. In addition, during the test, you are not permitted to have any food or water at your desk. At 9 months, my daughter was still not really eating any food and was solely relying on me for her sustenance. If I was stressed about making sure I was able to pump at least three times in the 10 hours I would be away from her (testing from 8-5 plus travel time as this is LA), it could very easily negatively affect my milk supply and I know this mother feels the same way. At 7 months, it is even more possible that this baby will not be eating any real amount of solids. This mom should probably pump at 8am, right before the exam begins - at 12 pm after the first session, and again right after the second session, which would end at 5pm. As it is, she may be uncomfortable towards the end of the second session. With my accomodation, I was not given additional time to test, but I was able to start my exam when I was ready and if I finished early to start the second session when I was ready. Therefore, I was able to pump at approximately 11am after the first session (I'm a fast test taker) and then start the exam back at noon and pump again at 3pm or earlier, whenever I was done testing. A much better schedule for me. Alexis Alexis Martin Neely, Esq. Mama to Kaia Ray Neely (11/2/99) "Breastfeeding support is an integral part of the family/friendly workplace environment." -Work & Family Coalition of San Diego How have you supported breastfeeding today? > >Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 17:41:06 -0500 >From: Diane <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: bar exam > >I had to do some catching up of digests, and didn't see many responses to >the question about the mom of a 7 month old who wants special arrangements >for taking the bar exam. I didn't see *any* that echoed my first thought, >and I'm curious: > >Did anyone else think the mother doesn't need special arrangements? It >sounded as if the exam was 3 hours, followed by a break, followed by 3 >hours. The break is probably at least an hour - enough time to pee, eat, >and pump or nurse. With a 7 month old, she shouldn't need to remove milk >more than just before the exam, during the break, and just after the exam, >and the baby, even if he doesn't take bottles, should be able to manage >those 2 3-hour separations without much problem. > >I worry that we sometimes want the rest of the world to bend too much to >our >needs as breastfeeding mothers. Isn't this a situation where it's just >more >sensible for the mom and baby to bend a bit, than for the institution to do >so? >-- >Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL Ithaca, NY >www.wiessinger.baka.com > > _________________________________________________________________ Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try MSN! http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html