Wow! I am really surprised by the reactions.
1. We don't know what "going back to work" means unless she has defined it
somewhere. Does that mean she answered her phone or Blackberry? Does that
mean she walked down the hall in her pjs and signed a bill (she's a governor
so she lives at work in the gov.'s mansion)? Or does it mean a full 8 hour
day away from her baby? (I doubt it).
Is it bad if she either had her baby with her (which I think it said
somewhere she did) or if she did an hour or two of work here and there?

2.When is it "okay" for her to go back? A week? A month? A year or more?
She can never make everyone happy. If it is just walking down the hall with
her baby for meetings, what is wrong with her being "back to work"? Can she
not work and meet the needs of her baby if she is committed to doing so?

3. Downs is a continuum. I have a mother-baby pair in my practice where the
baby is gaining quite nicely with lots of breastfeeding and some breastmilk
bottle supplements. Who knows how much "extra" care this baby needs. As a
mother of many children, I am sure she is thinking about this.

4. Her husband is and has been a "house husband" for a while. Perhaps he
does skin to skin, therapy with the baby and brings the baby to her for
feedings. 

5. Perhaps this was an unplanned pregnancy and she had already taken her
term as gov. Seems like the only way she could "put family first" would have
been to quit. That would look GREAT for women. See, what happens when women
are put in power, they get pregnant and then quit. Now if she wanted to
quit, great. But who are you to say she can't do both? She decided to keep
the child and her family decided how they would handle it.

6. Yes, more maternity leave is crucial in America, but so are work
environments that allow, celebrate and embrace children and families as part
of it. 

7. Let me just point out the hypocrisy here. If someone is working "at home"
say running an online sling shop. If she had a baby and answered emails 3
days later, is she setting a bad example? Maybe according to some. My point
is, we don't know what she meant by "work" unless she says "Three days after
birth I went on a cross-state tour across Alaska and left him at home."

How about we wait to judge her mothering choices (if we must - I have
learned unless you are intimately involved with someone this is difficult to
do) until she actually says something stupid.

I  was actually pretty encouraged to see an elected official with her baby
in a sling. Celebrities, yes, but I have NEVER seen a politician with a baby
in a sling.

By the way, I am NOT a registered Republican and at this point would rather
write in a vote for Santa Claus then vote for anyone in the American
election this fall.

AND I take nearly a year off from my business when I have a baby if not more
but  that is from doula work. I have taught breastfeeding classes and
delivered pumps with a baby in a sling and I know midwives and students who
go back to work within weeks because they LOVE their careers, have client
that need them and some of them have made commitments they are choosing to keep.

Micky Jones, BS, CLE, CLD, CHBE, HCHI
9 Months & Beyond, LLC
Hypnobabies classes, Breastfeeding consultation and Medela pump rentals,
Birth Doula services and more
www.ninemonthsandbeyond.com
1-877-365-(MAMA) 6262
...helping you enjoy the most precious years of life 

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