After Kathleen A.'s post about prolonged pumping with the comments about
mothers deciding by the second or third kid that this is not how to have kids
I feel a need to express the flip side of maternal employment. (Kathleen -
I don't take it personally, this is something I've been meaning to add to the
discussion for a while and this was just a golden opportunity). Most posts
on lactnet have expressed pity for women with children who work. While it is
certainly true that there are mothers who work for low wages and mother's who
wouldn't work if they truly did the math and saw that it wasn't cost
effective, there are some of us who work because we love it. This is in now
way is to denigrate mothers who stay at home. In fact, I think they are the
ones who work harder. After a weekend at home I often look at returning to
the office as vacation. At least at work people listen when I talk! I don't
think this makes me a worse mother - just a different kind. My kids do not
have the benefit of my full time attention but they have a happier me when
home. In particular, this attitude towards motherhood has in no way
interfered with my desire to breastfeed (1 child 5 months, 1 child 13 months
and the third 12 and counting). I find breastfeeding is a special time that
I can have when I return from work. I'm not looking for approval here, just
remember that as we counsel breastfeeding moms there may be others like me.
It takes all kinds.
--
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*  Deena Zimmerman MD MPH                          *
*  Department of Pediatrics                        *
*  UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School        *
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*  New Brunswick, NJ 08903                         *
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*      phone (908) 235-7248                        *
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