Workplace breastfeeding policy

[Blabbermouth96]

I’m a working mum and a big advocate for breastfeeding mums and making it a seamless journey to return to work. I want to challenge my workplaces policy on breastfeeding, and well, their current stance is there is no policy. If you breastfeed, you can pump in the first aid room and that’s about it.

Does anyone have any good examples of what their employer has done to make returning to work and breast feeding easier? I’ll use your examples to try and make a change in my own workplace.

for example, I was them to install facilities such as a designated fridge and give mums who pump paid breaks.

thank you ☺️

Have you read through the NHS info and the HSE info they link to? Quoting these should help your case
https://www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding-and-lifestyle/back-to-work/

When I went back to work (teacher) my headteacher was told she had to supply a designated fridge and suitable, private pumping room. We (my colleague returned at the same time also BF) were also allowed to pump as needed but that obviously doesn't work with teaching so it was kept to breaktimes. Don't know if that's the law or if it was just a school HR thing.

It sounds like they’ve done the minimum acceptable. Have they told you the breaks aren’t paid?

How big is the workplace? How well used would a designated room and fridge be?

Look at the guidance above and go to your employer with something proportionate to the size of the business. If it’s only small the 1st aid room is probably ok and maybe a plug in cool box in there. If it’s large or has a predominantly female workforce more will be needed.

It’s subject to space available I guess but I work in a large building and there’s a dedicated “mother’s room”. It’s basically got an armchair, a changing mat and a fridge, and the door can only be unlocked by security, presumably to stop others using it.

How can I safely transport expressed milk from work to home?

In a cool bag.

The same way as you’d transport it when you go out with your baby. It doesn’t need to be kept cold (unless your commute is over 6hrs), just make sure it’s in a secure container (baby bottle, drinking flask etc).

Everyone I know just books out a meeting room and pumps in there (also if you're on salary, then you're kind being paid for it).

It does need to be kept cold unless you’re baby is going to drink it immediately. If you want it for the next day or you want to freeze it for future use you should get an insulated cool bag and stick an ice pack or two in it.

That’s not the message I’ve got from various midwives and the GP. They said I could pump overnight and just put in the fridge in the morning. As long as it wasn’t over 6hrs. I don’t know anyone who has a commute over that, so the milk will be fine.

I work on nicu, our advice is that it can't be left out for more than an hour. Our unit is very hot though, like over 25°C.

I’d have to look up the recommendations again, but last time I was pumping it was something like breastmilk is safe for your baby after 6 hours at room temperature, or 6 days in the fridge, or 6 months in the freezer. But that doesn’t mean you can leave it out for 6 hours and then put it in the fridge for 6 days and then give it to your baby. Do you see the difference? If you want to keep it in the fridge for a few days, I’d get it in the fridge as soon as possible, and try to keep the temperature low once you’ve got it down to under 4’c.

And I’d imagine the time limits are more strict in NICU because premature babies are especially vulnerable to infection.

Actually I was told 4 hours at room temperature, 4 days in the fridge and 4 months in the freezer but I’m not in the UK so maybe climate or expected quality of fridges/freezers plays a role in the recommendations.

@Complet
Current NHS recommendations:
https://www.nhs.uk/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/expressing-breast-milk/
It doesn’t say how long you can leave breastmilk out at room temperature in a sterilized container before feeding it to your baby or before storing it in the fridge but I really would try to put it in the fridge as soon as possible after expressing. It’s just good food safety practice in general.

I’m in a huge office and we could pump in the first aid room, but that was completely fine, it was always free and it had a big comfy chair and was lockable. I would have readily vacated had there ever been a first aid emergency but it can go months and months without being needed.

We don’t have dedicated fridges but there are fridges anyone can use, so I just used those. As long as there’s a fridge somewhere with space in it, it’s fine.

And I’m salaried so would just pump when needed and not worry about taking breaks.

I think it’s reasonable for facilities to be somewhat dual purpose if they’re likely to be free when needed.

Thanks, I’m thankfully past those days now!! Both the NHS and lactation consultants said it’s fine to pump at night (I had to pump to try and increase supply around 3am), leave it on the side and pop in the fridge in the morning to use later.

I think it would be absolutely fine to bring milk home on your commute in a bottle without having to bother with ice packs etc. Presumably it will be in the fridge after pumping at work anyway. A stainless steel water bottle would be an easy container.

Idk if this helps at all but I've been back at work for nearly 2 months now (in an office) and my work have been great with me taking two 30 minute breaks a day to express (on top of my 1 hour lunch). It's not the same room everyday and they don't have locks on them. It can be difficult when everyone is in because the rooms are all full but most days someone is wfh. It's also a bit annoying as most of the rooms have windows in the doors so I have to sellotape big A3 sheets of paper together and then stick them to the door and write a post it note on saying "DO NOT ENTER". I'm thinking maybe I should cut my expressing down to just 1 30 minute session a day, DD is 13 months and breastfeeds all evening and night!