Going back to work is hard work:

If you are in the position that you need to go back to work, I feel you. I truly feel you. This will be one of the hardest days of your life. Kissing that perfect little baby goodbye and driving off, realising with every stop you are now the furthest you have ever been from your perfect little baby and for a second you hear his donkey rattle in the back of the car, just to see that you left it hanging in the back, but there is no baby chair nor baby. Your baby is being looked after by someone else and I don’t care if this someone else is Mother Teresa, it’s not YOU!

You wish that your baby is okay, but on the other hand, you wonder if he misses you. My heart cannot bear the thought. I wipe away the tears and tackle the next senseless email since maternity leave. I tried and tested my pump beforehand as I needed to leave breastmilk at home for this first day being back at work and thought it won’t be that hard, I just need 10 minutes, just like at home, I’m a Pro aren’t I? But let me tell you, it’s not that easy when you are out of your own surroundings and the phone is ringing and you borrowed your colleagues’ office because your office is made of glass….see-through glass! It took me 10-15min just to relax and then L works, but R is still slacking and when R joins the party, L gets nostalgic. What a darn mission, but I am proud to say, I made it, day one is over and done with.

Day two, I had to help out in a hospital setting and could make use of the breastfeeding room in the nursery. I am unsure who came up with the idea to have the breastfeeding room in close proximity to crying babies and all sorts of baby noises, but what a fantastic idea… There is no better way to get the taps running except having your baby with you, but this is the best alternative!

After a week or so, I was chased out of the breastfeeding room in a very well-known hospital franchise while pumping. The unit manager of the maternity ward did not even have the decency to knock first. Apparently I was not allowed to pump there as the public will see I am pumping there and they do not want the public to assume that they can use this room as they need to keep the area hygienic for the babies. Note, this all happened after I asked for permission to pump in that room. I do understand that the area should be kept clean and tidy, but where are working staff supposed to pump?

The hospital is being upgraded as we speak and nowhere in that darn place is a breastfeeding or pumping room. How is this possible? There are “quite” rooms around every corner and nobody thought maybe we should use one of these for the working moms to be able to pump and breastfeed longer? Nobody is thinking of the mothers or the babies for that matter. We are falling further behind other countries that take care of their mothers and babies, no wonder we have rated the unhealthiest country in the world.

It hit me straight in the face that working moms have to deal with these types of situations with no support whatsoever.

One of the kitchen staff members was also back from maternity leave and I knew she was breastfeeding so I asked her, what does she do? Where does she pump? Her answer shocked me to the core. “I try not to eat or drink water to produce less milk. My breasts are so sore, but what can I do? I can only feed again tonight when I get back to my baby.” This lady hand expresses during the night to be able to leave a few feeds for the next day and then she pushes through a 12-hour shift excluding the traveling time without pumping a drop of milk? This must be excruciating, to say the least.

I gave her an extra breast pump, educated her on how to correctly store the milk during this time and arranged with her manager that she can pump throughout the day. It will be in the bathroom, not ideal at all, but at least it's something.

I knew it would be hard work to go back to work, but I did not anticipate all that has happened to me in the past two weeks being back from maternity leave. I have so much respect for moms pumping at work that have to deal with similar issues in the workplace. I am going to do my best to change working mom’s pumping experiences at work, one at a time.

Even though hand expression works perfectly to obtain breast milk, studies have found that by combining hand expressing and pumping lead to the best results to maintain your milk supply.

It is true what they say…it is much easier giving the advice than actually following it yourself. I have so much respect for you working moms out there, well done! Well done for packing (and remembering) all your pumping equipment. Well done for standing your ground in the workplace. Well done for pumping in the car, toilet, staircase…where ever, to leave those precious milk for your little baby. Just well done!

Now the long wait until 4 PM so that I can rush back to that precious little boy of mine.