How can I support a breastfeeding mom?
In honor of world breastfeeding week, here are just a few ways you can support a breastfeeding mom:
Make sure you tell that mom that you admire her effort and commitment. Let her know you see how hard she is working to give her baby the very best. Breastfeeding and pumping is a full time job. for one year, it is bare minimum 35 hours per week, often much higher than that.
At work, If a mom says something like, “I’m so sorry, I have to pump, I’m going to be late,” say something back like, “You don’t have to apologize! You taking care of your baby is more important than whatever we had scheduled, I can wait as long as you need.”
If you ever see or hear someone wherever you are give a make a comment to a mom who is breastfeeding her baby in public, you can be the one to defend that mom so that she doesn’t have to fight that battle and she doesn’t the chance to feel an ounce of guilt for making the best choice she can for her baby.
When a breastfeeding or pumping mom comes to your house with or without her baby, make sure she knows that she can breastfeed or pump anywhere she wants, and that offer her a quiet, private, comfortable corner she can use for pumping and feeding if she prefers that.
Whether you are breastfeeding currently or not, maybe you can be the one to bring up making sure your workspace has quiet and private spaces for pumping, that working moms who are pumping have accommodations to ensure that they can pump for their baby and not have to stay late working extra as a result so that it’s clear that a work culture that welcomes breastfeeding is important to EVERYONE, not just the mom who is breastfeeding.
If you are an employer, you can say over and over to your whole organization that you want to support parents taking great care of their new babies and want to ensure breastfeeding moms feel welcome and accommodated at work, and that you value their insights and talents overall and as a new parent.
