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3rd Trimester
not aloud/able to pump at work?
so i think i might start getting emotional pretty soon. i want to breastfeed my baby and i have to come back probably around 2 months after having her, and i am going to need to pump at work to keep my supply up since im here the majority of the day.
i went to HR to see what my options were and she told me she didnt know, and that in 20 years of working here she has never been asked about pumping at work...she said she knew people have breastfed before but not at work. theres no extra rooms here for me to lock myself in...and going home isnt really ideal since its 20 minutes drive time there and 20 minutes to get back .....plus the time it takes to pump and clean up ....and my baby is goign to be at home with my mom because she does in-home child care, and i know i wouldnt want to go back to work, and if im there well i might as well just breastfeed her and not pump it.............
ugh!! wth this is so dumb. the HR lady said seh wouldnt even know how to go about breast pumping and what it consists of!! are you serious??? shes probably in her 40s.............its the natural thing to do, and i breastfed my first until she was almost 2 years old.....i stayed home with her for 10-11 months though and i was able to go home to feed her since i worked 5 minutes literally, away.....and then seh was able to go on regular milk (which she wont drink)/choc. milk/juice, so it worked out!
What would you do???
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Re: not aloud/able to pump at work?
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someone i know works somewhere else in their HR department and its not illegal to tell me no....theres no law in FL protecting it I guess...I will look into it? Yea thats what i thought about educating herself
FL BFing law: https://www.patlc.com/fl_law.htm
"the importance of Florida infants being breastfed and protect a mother?s right to breastfeed whenever and wherever she needs to."
You can BF in your car if you absolutely have to. However, your office should be more accommodating than that. Is there a closet or even a bathroom in which you can pump?
I'd suggest going to La Leche League. They have some resources on pumping at work which address both legal and practical issues. No matter what, don't let the ignorance of your HR lady affect your ability to breastfeed your baby.
This website can probably help you - https://www.llli.org/. It provides you with resources regarding the breastfeeding laws in your state and articles on pumping at work, i.e., what a lactation room should/should not consist of, etc...
I am lucky enough to have a lactation room at my office. When I had my first child 16 months ago, I vowed to breastfeed for a year, which meant I would need to pump at work. When I returned to work, the room provided for pumping was extremely minimal, bright overhead lighting, a chair and a table. I approached our facility manager armed with a couple of resources I downloaded from the Le Leche League website to see if they could bring the room up to at least a minimal standard.
As a result, there is now a refrigerator, comfortable chairs, more tables, and a lamp (with a dimmer), pictures on the wall, and a mirror to make sure your clothes are back in place after your pumping session.
There are many moms in my office that are pumping at work and I feel that the revamp of the room has made it easier and motivating to continue breastfeeding as long as they like.
If you live in Minnesota there is a law allowing you to do so. If you live in California, there is legislation allowing you to do so: https://www.breastfeedingworks.org/labor-code.htm
If not, you need to educate the HR representative with quantitative data. La Leche League has written some wonderful information about this topic: https://www.llli.org/Law/LawEmployment.html
It may take you to start the conversation in order to get things to change at your company. If it were me, I would get the information together and start lobbying. If there are other pregnant women in your office, approach them to help push this through as well.
Go to Le Leche Leuge for information:
https://www.llli.org/
Here is an article from their website about Breastfeeding, employment, and the Law:
https://www.llli.org/Law/LawEmployment.html
Most electric pumps have car adapters that you can buy separately.
Do you have your own office? Are there office supplies in a location the could be consolidated into another area to make room for a breastfeeding zone?
I sit in an office with about 5 people. One of my coworker (she sits in another area of the building) pumps in the bathroom since there is no other place and I will have to do the same. I know people complain about "would you prepare food in a bathroom" and all of that jazz but honestly I don't see it the same way. Some women have pumped in their parked cars before. Think about all of the possible places and the cons/pros of each and pick the place where you would feel most comfortable given the situation. I know one of the medela pumps come with a car adapter.
I would not go home since it's a 40minute commute plus time pumping. Also talk with other ladies in the building to see if they may have pumped in other places due to the lack of space in your building and maybe it would be the start of getting a place for you to pump at work.
GL! Also try posting this on the breastfeeding board and 3-6.
There are no extra rooms at my job....needless to say, no where to park at times because there are so many employees.......
my boss is a man, with no kids, so no real understanding of what its like...and obviously HR lady is ignorant on the situation. I havent been emotional this whole pregnancy and now I am feelin the horomonal surge over this topic. UGH!!!!
So where do you park when the lot is full?
Before getting too emotional contact the LLL and see what they can do for you. Worst case is popping a boob out at your desk till the get the hint. lol
Some of the pumps have car adapters that work in your cigarette lighter port (Medela's have this) so that is potentially still an option (although not ideal for sure).
I know that I had to give up my office a few times a day for one of my coworker to pump when she returned from leave (i was the only one with a lockable door).
A conf room, someone's office, a janitors closet could all work - just depends on the office situation (in one of our locations there were no "offices" in the entire place - just cubes. HR had to arrange for a secondary location in the building for one woman - they're in Cali and I believe it's state mandated)DS 2/23/10
DD 7/31/2012
When the lots full, we have to park against the curbs and when thats full, I was able to park in a customer parking space, and the receptionist would let me know if someone said anything that i needed to move my car.....
HR said no one else in 20 years has ever asked about breastfeeding at work. She said she knew people that had breasted but never pumped at work. The only option would be to do it in the car........and thats a tight squeeze and pretty unrealistic since i am not a small girl, id be exposing my belly and everything by lifting my shirt, so id have to make sure id be covered good, and people walking by coming in and out of work at all times...........just seems like id be more paranoid than anything.....
idk this just really freakin sucks
We don't have a lactation room either - one person I know that is BFing is using the women's bathroom/showers that is off of the co-ed gym. I'm still going to bring it up to HR, with 800+ people in this building they should be able to make up a lactation room - I know at least 6 of us are walking around reading to pop!
Who cares if no one else has asked about it in the last 20 years? That shouldn't mean anything. YOU are asking about it NOW. Look at some of the links the ladies have provided, see if there are any laws to protect/help your case, and ask to talk to someone else in HR if this lady won't help you.
There may or may not be a law that will help you out - a lot of them say that (I think if there are so many employees in the building or something), that they must make an effort to provide reasonable accommodations - but nothing is outlined as to what counts as an effort or what counts as "reasonable."
Do you work in a cube? Could you put a sheet/blanket or some other sort of temporary door to the opening of it so you could pump there? It might be embarrassing or distracting to have CWs hear you, but maybe then they'd make more of an effort to find a more suitable place for you.
Good luck - I really wouldn't want to pump in a bathroom or my car either. But I know that a woman at my work did use a bathroom when she had her baby 15 years ago. Luckily, there is currently an empty office that I'll be able to use upon my return.
Yea...I had the Medela last time and it didnt do good for me. Maybe it was a bad pump or something...just never could get anything out of it.
I work in a big spacious area, not cubed up....with lots of men
No one said that you couldn't BF, the lady just said that she has never been asked and wasn't familiar with an policy concerning it.
The law doesn't require that you have a room to your individual specific standards it just says that they have to provide a room with a locked door that you can have access to. That room doesn't have to be a comfy office or board room. More than likely you will have to pump in your car or in the bathroom, it isn't ideal but that is all they are required to accommodate you with.
The lady at HR probably hadn't ever been asked because most women who don't have their own office use the bathroom.
You say there's no place to pump. Seriously, what do you want them to do about it? What's going to make you happy?
This law protects women's right to BF in public, but FL has no law requiring provisions to be made in the workplace.
Here's a great resource I found for FL law.
https://www.flbreastfeeding.org/bfing_working.htm
If you want to you will be able to find a solution to work. It sounds like the car may be your best option. I've done it before while out at a wedding or events. You can get a car adapter or a pump that can take batteries.
What I've done is sit in the back seat and used a nursing cover. No different than if we were road tripping and needed to find a place to nurse DS. There are also wipes you can buy to temporarily clean your pump if you don't have a good place to take it back in the office and clean while at work.
Your HR lady must have some issues...
I think it is a state law in every state that your employer provides a clean, private, locked room for you to pump in. And, not the bathroom. Go to your supervisor. If you encounter further problems, I am sure there are different organizations that can help you. Contact your local LLL, they probably have experience with similar stories. Try the BF board too. They might be more helpful!
I was told last year that the most recent version of the ADA requires employers to provide a private space that is not a restroom for breastfeeding mothers to pump while at work.
I find it impossible to believe that even a small company can't provide you with an office/conference room/ storage room where you can pump.
Here is a link to WomensHealth.gov that talks about bf at work and helping to educate your employer (HR).
https://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/programs/business-case/
Good luck!
I think, at least in MN, the law states that employers must make a "reasonable effort" to provide employees with a place other than a toilet stall to pump. That does not mean that they will actually be able to provide one.
Anyways, I still think the OP should do some more research and ask again and ask to speak to someone else if the woman in HR that she talked to and her boss are still unwilling to help