I think that those who have been very successful pumping and working full
time and raising lovely children are blessed - with a great deal of energy,
dedication, conviction, willingness to sacrifice AND a good milk supply
and/or a great "storage capacity" such as Dr. Hartmann has explained is
withing the normal range.

However, we should be careful not to "blame the victim" and assume that
mothers that have been unable to maintain the full milk supply, work full
time, etc. etc. were just not dedicated/willing/energetic/or had enough
convition.

Having worked with moms who HAVE pumped once at noon and kept a full milk
supply  AND with mothers who have pumped every 2 hours and were barely able
to keep up with their babies, I never speak of pumping and working as "
what every working mother can do".  It is similar to the Home Health Nurse
who tells me she doesn't believe in all the "cue feeding" stuff - SHE
nursed every three hours and used a pacifier to delay feedings, SHE limited
feedings to no more than 20 minutes long - and her children did great!  She
can't believe that I'm recommending putting these babies on the breast on
cue - that makes them very erratic and difficult to work with when you go
back to work!

Mothers I see are working for fast food chains, in grocery stores and gas
stations.  They make minimum wage, are dependent on the good graces of
their employer not only to pump - but to even be assigned the hours of work
they need to keep the wolf from the door (or the State off their back as
they MUST work over 32 hours a week).  They also need to use unreliable
public transportation or a broken down car to get to work and take their
children to child care.  THESE are the moms I'm speaking of when I say
we've "sold out".  When I was in Slovakia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland
I was shocked to learn that moms were given time and pay  to be with their
babies  _if they chose to_ .  The moms I work with do not have that
choice....

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, IBCLC
Vacaville, CA
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