Would you want to eat your tuna sandwich sitting on the office toilet? Many employees won’t touch the bathroom door handle for fear of germ contamination, but breastfeeding mothers are routinely required to lock themselves into a bathroom stall to pump lunch for their babies.The Royal Gazette recently spoke with a few mothers who are working while breastfeeding, and found that some local employers are very progressive, while others, feel that providing a clean closet-size room for breastfeeding mothers is excessive. One woman, who works in the education system, said after her daughter was born, her employers were supportive, but things changed as time went on.“My experience with my employer was not all bad,” said the woman, who did not want to be named. “In fact, in the beginning they were actually quite accommodating. I was given permission to go nurse my son every lunch break. I worked around my schedule so that I would be able to do this.”But when she approached her employer about a room to pump in, the attitude became less friendly. She was given a high traffic area to breastfeed in, with people regularly moving back and forth. “There really wasn’t anywhere with much privacy, and whatever rooms there were available in the past, were all being used by other employees,” she said. “I was given a place where there were always people coming in and out. I got the feeling they were just trying to shut me up about needing a room.”She became very stressed about the issue, and her milk production was reduced. Breastfeeding can be inhibited by stress. “I was even told to use the bathroom if I had to, although I refused,” she said. “I actually resorted to ‘reverse-cycle feeding’ where I would nurse my son through the night to ensure he was getting enough milk in case I could not pump, but that got very tiring as well. Now I move around to pump, but have found rooms that are not used during specific times so I can pump. I store my milk in a cooler bag.”The mother said at first there was time to breastfeed, but the company became short-staffed and she struggled to find time for the 15-minute break needed to pump. When she asked for help resolving the issue, her employers were unhelpful and unsympathetic.“So, although they are very helpful in some ways, in other ways, they don’t seem to be too concerned with my child’s well-being at all,” she said. “This is also part of the reason I know that if I had another baby, I would not return to work. I am still pumping, although I can’t wait until my vacation when I will get to nurse full-time again.”La Leche League is a registered charity that provides support and encouragement to mothers who want to breastfeed. A La Leche League leader, Melony Kendall, said that employers don’t need a big building project with a permit to accommodate breastfeeding employees.“A fridge to store breast milk is nice, but not absolutely necessary as many breast pumps come with cold packs,” said Ms Kendall. “A broom closet is all that is needed. It needs to be clean, private and secure so that the mother can relax and not be worried that someone will come in. It isn’t a huge financial investment for an employer to figure out where they are going to put someone. It’s not like that have to build something.”La Leche League suggested that working mothers who wish to breastfeed sit down with their employer while they are still pregnant and discuss their needs. “Let them know that it is important that the workplace be family-friendly,” said Ms Kendall. “Breastfed babies are healthier and employers will have lower health-care costs. Theoretically, there should be less days that mothers will have to stay home with a sick baby, because breastfed babies are supposed to be healthier. It is also very good for employee morale.”One employer leading the way is the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB). They recently set up a special lactation room for their own breastfeeding employees.Katrina Hicks, a nurse in the Blood Donor Centre said breastfeeding her daughter, Hannah, was very important to her and having a supportive employer made it a lot easier.“It is the perfect nutrition for my baby,” she said. “It is something that is very important to me. All the literature says you should try to breastfeed your child for 12 months. The longer my daughter can breastfeed it has health benefits for both her and myself. I think that it helps the employer also because it means I will have to take fewer baby illnesses.”Ms Hicks said her baby was now seven months old, and had only had the occasional cold.“The new lactation room is convenient because it was on-site and it is private and safe,” she said. “The main thing when you are expressing is to be relaxed. Stress inhibits your milk supply and the release. You don’t want to lose your supply either. There are pictures of babies in there. There is information about La Leche League. There are flyers and things. There is a fridge to refrigerate your milk. It is the perfect environment to express milk.“It definitely made it easier because my employer was so supportive. You need a lot of support not just from your family, but it also takes good planning and a good pump. If you don’t have the support of the workplace it wouldn’t be possible to maintain breastfeeding. I have had good support from everyone from the beginning.”Another nurse who is breastfeeding her baby, Holly Gillam, said she was also grateful to BHB for being supportive of breastfeeding. She works in the hyperbaric chamber at the hospital. “This is my second baby,” she said. “I pumped throughout both babies. My son gave up breastfeeding after about ten months. He enjoyed the taste of food and enjoyed the fact that it filled him up. My daughter is eight months and she is still going strong.”She is a resource nurse at the hospital, and said sometimes it was hard to find the time to pump. “I tend to be really busy,” she said. “I go see patients throughout the day so I have to make a point of stopping and pumping, but my daughter is supplemented. She has breast milk and bottle and formula. I am able to cope that way.”Loredana Perrin, works at Bacardi International, and said her employers’ progressive attitude towards breastfeeding probably helped to ease some of the early separation anxiety when she first came back to work after maternity leave. Her daughter is now two years old and no longer breastfeeding. “We do not have a dedicated pumping room,” she said. “We have a shower room which I used for pumping.”She was happy with the shower stall as it was well cleaned daily and private. “The company was extremely supportive and I received no comments about it,” she said. “In fact, the building manager consulted me about what would be required for a future lactation area. “I suppose that having a supportive working environment did help to ease separation anxiety. I did go to nurse her at lunchtime for the first couple of months in order to cut down on my pumping sessions. It was also great to see her during my lunch break.”Ms Kendall said La Leche League always encouraged mothers to breastfeed for as long as possible, even if that possible timeframe wasn’t very long. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first six months.“We always encourage mothers, even if they are going back to work,” said Ms Kendall. “We urge working women to do the best they can to give their babies a healthy start in life. Women can work and breastfeed. Some moms go back to work and breastfeed in the evenings and on the weekends and supplement in the day. If you have any problems with your employer or just getting off to a good start, get help. Call us we are there to offer support.”For more information telephone 236-1120 or e-mail islandgirl[AT]northrock.bm. La Leche League is also on Facebook.Useful website: www.lllflorida.com and click on ‘find a local group’.