| Number |
Date |
Name |
Please type or paste in your ... |
| 55 |
Thu Jan 17 22:19:19 EST 2013 |
Shavon Puckett |
I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to have break time at work so I can/could continue to breastfeed. I love breastfeeding and love that is so beneficial to my children and without ample time More....to pump at work I would not be able to do so. At work the girls give me a hard time about breastfeeding but their kids are the ones that are full of health issues including asthma, allergies, anxiety, behavior issues and so forth. I work very long days so there is NO way I could breastfeed without this law. I would have to quit my job because there is NO way I wouldnt breastfeed my children. It is that important. |
| 54 |
Tue Dec 11 13:29:17 EST 2012 |
Tonya Sandidge |
First and foremost I just want to begin by saying that I am the proud mother of six wonderful children ages 19, 17, 14, 10, 6 and 2yrs old. Of the six children I have breastfed for a total of approximately More....ten years. Yes, that is correct. With the exception of my first daughter who I breastfed for only four months (because I didn't know that I could have continued feeding her when my breast became engorged over the weekend when I was away from her) but she never has had a bottle. I managed however, to do better the next pregnancy three years later and I breastfed the second daughter for 2 1/2 years, then the third, fourth and fifth child..for two years each. I now have a 24 month old son name Elijah Xavier who I am currently breastfeeding. I received support from my Breastfeeding Peer Counselor in Tampa, FL when I was visiting a local McDonald's. On this particular day back in approximately July-Aug of 2011 I was holding my son in my left arm breastfeeding him while typing on my laptop and enjoying my meal with my fiance'. I was asked by a manager to stop. I was actually startled so I replied, "Stop what?" She reiterated that I was going to have to stop doing what I was doing (while looking down at my son). I was still puzzled, because I was thinking to myself..."Is she seriously telling me to stop feeding my son?" and so she went on to repeat it one more time.."You are going to have to stop breastfeeding him because we have minors that work here." I was shocked, hurt and even humiliated that day. I was simply appalled that I was told to stop feeding my son.
The reason that I respect my former Breastfeeding Peer Counselor is because about a week prior to the incident, she had just equipped me with a breast pump for transitioning back to work. She also provided me with a little laminated card informing me about my rights to breastfeed in public with the noted Florida Statute. I had NO idea that this card would come in handy. I then pulled out my card and asked the manager was she aware that I had a right to breastfeed my son in public and that while I wasn't even exposing any of my breast..had I exposed it, I was still well within my rights. She walked off without any apology or comments. This is my story of how my breastfeeding peer counselor empowered me with "Knowledge". Had I not been informed about this prior to this incident I would have just complied with her request as she told me without any response. Now I advocate for breastfeeding to my friends and associates. Becoming a mother has been one of my greatest accomplishments. I am very passionate about breastfeeding and have tons of stories about my breastfeeding experiences over the years; or how I have been blessed to use my breast milk to help cure ailments in my children such as "the pink eye" conjunctivitis, an earache...etc. To my Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, I say "Thank you"...I will never forget that incident in McDonald's and I will continue to stand firm in my belief and right to provide my children with the very best. Breastfeeding is NOT an option in my family when it comes to my baby...It is the ONLY choice. Thanks! |
| 53 |
Fri Sep 28 12:47:25 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I work for a Member of Congress and I am so thankful for the federal break time for nursing moms. As a result, I am provided a nice clean area in our builidng's health unit to express milk at any time More....of the day for a longs as needed. My boss, Chief of Staff and colleagues are very supportive and accommodating. If the day is crazy busy and yet I need to run to express milk they all understand and don't give me hell for having to step out when all are so busy. |
| 52 |
Wed Sep 05 16:07:44 EDT 2012 |
Gayle Chavez |
I was very fortunate to be able to breastfeed all of my children will full support of my family. I'm glad that the " break time for nursing mothers" law is around to help new mothers. I'm know there More....are breastfeeding peer counsleors to help educate new mothers and make them feel confident and successful breastfeeding mothers. |
| 51 |
Fri Aug 10 13:47:02 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I am currently 6 months into BF my first child. It is the biggest commitment i have ever made but also by far the most rewarding. I think that is why BF moms are so hardcore about talking about it and More....why there are so many support groups. It is such an achievement to strictly BF and you only know how hard and awesome it is if you have done it before!! When we live in a world that pushes bottles,formula,and full time work you dont always have the support you need to keep at it. As soon as you get into a rhythm with your little one it changes. If you were ever a control freak BF is the best therapy for it because it truly forces you to go with the flow and listen to your baby.truly listen! I dont know how many times I have come to sites like these or called LLL or a fellow BF mom with questions or just in need of reassurance that my boobies and my baby are just fine! I think the biggest piece of advice i can give is that there is a big difference between a baby being BF and a baby being given formula. What i mean by this is the frequency you will feed,amount you will feed,growth of your little one,sleep patterns can be different.And from my experience many Pediatrician and books are giving advice based on this schedule that needs to be happening and when you or your little one are not meeting these "standards" you will feel stressed or like things are not working out when in actuality every thing is perfect. So listen to your body and your baby and you will be fine..oh and using outlets such as these for support!! Always remember babies have been BF since the beginning of time!! |
| 50 |
Thu Jul 26 12:13:02 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I am a Certified Lactation Consultant and I help moms and families when support is needed, being a mom of 2 and 1 on the way, I understand the need for Support and Education, families who understand that More....when they return to work or school that there are people like us in the community to support them. |
| 49 |
Tue Jul 10 11:33:27 EDT 2012 |
Samantha Hartsell |
I work for a federal utility, and as a federal employee, was only afforded the right to pump after I returned to work by the President's executive order which extended the same benefits in the AFA to More....federal employees. However, my company had already provided a separate "lactation room" in the newly renovated office space in which I work. I returned to work at three months and pumped until my daughter was nine months old. I was very grateful for the opportunity. Many of my coworkers and friends cited not having a place to pump after they returned to work as their main reason for not breastfeeding or for breastfeeding for a shorter duration than they would have liked.
I am returning to work with my second child Ina few weeks and plan to continue breastfeeding and pumping during the workday for as long as possible. Every woman and her family should be supported if they choose to breastfeed their newborns when they return to the workplace. Employers should be aware of the benefits to mom, baby, family and company as well, especially in terms if illness. My oldest did get several viral fevers etc when she began daycare, but has been very healthy overall. Only one ear infection at eleven months old. She's almost twenty months now. The opportunity also helped my choice to continue to work a little easier as I felt I was still connected to and doing something beneficial for my child while we were apart. |
| 48 |
Thu Jun 28 09:54:59 EDT 2012 |
Hannah Severson |
The "Break Time for Nursing Mothers" law made a big difference for me. I would not have been able to breastfeed if I hadn't been able to pump milk at work. It was very important to me that I did breastfeed More....my daughter. If I hadn't been able to pump at work, I probably would have quit just so I could. Of course it would have been a lot harder on money, so I am glad that because of this law I didn't have to! I have been breastfeeding her since birth (9.5 months) and still going strong! |
| 47 |
Fri Jun 22 09:59:23 EDT 2012 |
Lisa Hamrick |
When my son was born 10 weeks early, our life turned completely upside down. We had been expecting a completely normal pregnancy and didn't have any complications until one morning I woke up with bleeding, More....rushed to the hospital, and a few days had him via emergency c-section. I had developed HELLP syndrome, which quickly became life threatening for me and for my unborn son.
He was rushed across town to a children's hospital to get the best care in their NICU. I was sent to the ICU for a blood transfusion and to have my liver closely monitored. Once I was stable, I had my first visit from Lactation.
This offered some normalcy to our situation; our morning had been a nightmare and we didn't even know if our son would make it through the day, let alone if I would be able to get out of the hospital to see him. Our lactation consultant came in with the pump, explained how to use it, and for the first time I felt like a mother with a duty for my son.
I pumped. I pumped every 3 hours. I had the hopes that when my son was capable he would eventually breastfeed. The weekend after he was born I was discharged and got to see him, bringing my small amounts of breast milk with me.
After a week or two, he began to receive breast milk through his NG tube. Small amounts at first--2 mls, 5 mls, they slowly kept increasing the amounts. After several more weeks he was able to tolerate taking it through a bottle. It would sometimes take him close to 30 minutes to finish off 5 mls, but he would get there. I continued to pump, the lactation consultant, the nurses, my employer, my husband and my family cheered me on. I was determined to give my son the finest; he needed every bit of help.
I pumped for 8 months (2.5 months he was in the hospital). I continued to pump every 3 hours. I had tried to nurse him, but we discovered before he was discharged that anytime he took feeds by mouth he would aspirate a little and thus needed all of his bottles to be thickened. I won't even go through the process of how we had to thicken his feeds...
He was able to have breast milk for 10 months, much longer than anyone ever expected a mother of a preemie to do. When you are in my situation, you feel hopeless. Everything is in the hands of fate and experienced medical personnel. This was all I could offer him.
In a couple weeks, my son will be a year old. Despite his rough beginning, he is very active and developmentally more advanced than he should be for his adjusted age. It is amazing to see who used to be a 2 lb 1.1oz baby be a healthy 18 lb baby. I'd like to think that I had something to do with it.
I spent |
| 46 |
Thu Jun 21 15:25:09 EDT 2012 |
Michael jackson |
moms need this program its awesome and the numbers have been rising! KEEP THE PROGRAM!! |
| 45 |
Thu Jun 21 15:21:08 EDT 2012 |
rickeshia hubbard |
i am a breastfeeding mother i successfilly breastfed my son for 9 months and i am still breastfeeding my 11 month old daughter. i also happen to be a breastfeeding peer counselor at the calhoun county More....health department WIC office. being that i was a first time mother and first time breastfeeder with my son alot of the times i felt like giving up on breastfeeding when things were getting too difficult. the main reason i didnt was because i foud out that he had some major allergies that included cows milk and i could not afford formula. how i would have love to have had a peer counselor to be there for me when times were trying and i didnt know what to do. when he turn 9 moths old i quit breastfeeding because i became pregnant with my daughter and it was a lot of demand on my body, i was also under the common misconseption that because i was pregnant i could no longer breastfeed my son because it would harm my unborn child or my son wouldnt get enough. now that i work as a BREASTFEEDING PEER COUNSELOR i have been properly educated on things such as Tandum Nursing, which is what i could have done pregnant with my daughter and breastfeeding my son. i hear our clients say all the time how greatful they are to have us peer couselors when they have no one to turn to and they need answers. while the program is fairly new we are already seeing an increase in the number of breastfeeding women. i strongly believe that that is due to us peer counselors contacting the women while they are pregnant and having a mother to mother approach at educating them on myths facts and why breastfeeding is best for both them and their babies. if this program is eliminated it could negatively effect the nutritional intake of infants. what we've also found is that a lot of mothers do not end up breastfeeding not only because they dont know much about it but it is also because they relate better to someone who has done it before. This is more than just a job to me it is more like a passionate way of life. for as many promises that our government and congressmen make to bring in jobs especially in michigan i dont see how eliminating the peer counselor program will help with that. it will actually increase unemployment across the nation. |
| 44 |
Thu Jun 21 15:12:46 EDT 2012 |
Myyawnna Sloan-Gross |
Breastfeeding is something that everyone should at lease try, like i did. I was a 16 year-old mother going to school and work. At that time, even sleep was difficult. I found out that breastfeeding was More....really helpful and 2X's easier. Breastfeeding, is very helpful and im glad that we have the breastfeeding peer counselor's available. they are 100% helpful and im here right now to fight for US! |
| 43 |
Tue Jun 19 09:52:23 EDT 2012 |
Dawn Reynolds |
I personally have did not have the advantage of a peer counselor. My youngest child is 30 years old and I tried to breastfeed but failed.
My daughter is a peer counselor and she has a true passion More....about what she does. I know if I had someone like her I would have found ways to work around the failure that I felt. So many young Moms have been helped by her and many of them I think would have taken another path if they hadn't had her guidance and support. She may get calls 24 hours a day and no matter what she is there to help them through each step. I think that Breastfeeding Peers have given a new choice to young mothers that didn't have that support before and won't have it again if you take away this program. |
| 42 |
Tue Jun 19 08:05:49 EDT 2012 |
Kelly Gemmel |
I was trained as a Breastfeeding Support Counselor in Chicago, IL in 2001. Not only has my training been infinitely valuable in my job as a dietitian/nutritionist, but also in persevering through some More....tough situations of my own with my two sons. Despite C-section complications, two bouts of mastitis, a clogged duct, and returning to work at three months, I successfully breastfeed my oldest son for seven months. I was able to breastfeed for ten months with my youngest, who just turned one. breastfeeding is an amazing experience that I am so happy to have experienced, but it was not easy in the beginning with either child; knowledge from my previous training and support from my family and friends was crucial! The breast is best and we need to continue supporting new moms! |
| 41 |
Sat Jun 16 06:29:22 EDT 2012 |
frances daugherty |
I have 2 children one is 2 and I had bf her till she was 15monthes. I don't think I would have done that with out the love and support of the bf programs. I now have an infant and plan on bf him till at More....least 2. The bf program has helped me in so many ways not only have they provided me with tons of support but the taught me the benifits of bf both mental and physical which I have grown to believe is true. I have grown to have such a passion for bf that I have decided to pursue it further. It would bring me great joy to be able to provide the same support that I recieved. |
| 40 |
Sat Jun 16 05:39:22 EDT 2012 |
Teresa Coverdale |
My story is one of Non support. I successfully bf 3 children because of the book WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING. Back in the 1960's there was little support for lactation, we were called hippies because More....we did not want to conform to the current value system. We wanted to natural way. It was very much a struggle with the medical system from Doctors to nurses to hospitals. I learned not to talk too much about breastfeeding because it wasn't the "in thing" But I developed a passion because it felt right and good. I also bf a child that was my sisters, which seemed strange to many people but to me it was the right decision. Later we discovered he was part of the autism spectum. But he was typical because he liked touch. I attribute that to being bf. My other children are very indepent and happy. That is why I wanted to be come a Certified Lactation Consultant. I wanted to give help that I would have loved to have. And support in the work place that I did not have. I am currently chairing a support group and teaching newborn parent class which gives me the platform to encourage and give good life skills. I have been extremely blessed to involved in breastfeeding families which gives me a tremendous satisfaction of helping mothers give the gift of nurturing that will last for a lifetime:+) |
| 39 |
Thu Jun 14 18:59:24 EDT 2012 |
Mara McCord |
I want to share my success story of how I was able to breast feed my daughter. The hospital I had her at was not breast feeding friendly and did everything they could to discourage my breast feeding attempts. More....They gave my daughter artificial baby milk against my wishes and from the start she developed nipple confusion. When my daughter was 5 days old we went for our WIC appointment and I was literally in tears as I was signing the forms for the artificial baby milk (formula). The nutritionist asked me if I had considered pumping, and if I wanted they could loan me an electric pump. I took it and started pumping that night. I thought at least my baby can get some breast milk. Little did I know that she would get more than a little. It took almost 3 months of exclusive pumping along with working with the lactation consultants at WIC to teach my daughter how to latch, but while we did not only did I pump enough to fully give her nothing but breast milk, at one time I had over 600 bags of frozen breast milk in my freezer. Once we finally got the latch issue corrected she didn't want anything to do with bottles. We had enough milk stored that she didn't need to transition to cow's milk until she was 18 months old; and she continued to nurse from the breast until she self weaned at 27 months. None of this would have been possible if not for Melinda at WIC. She supported us and gave us the tools we needed to be successful. |
| 38 |
Sun Jun 10 00:23:16 EDT 2012 |
Jessica Pratt |
For all three of my babies I returned to my corporate career when they were 12 weeks old. I planned to breast feed for at least one year. It helped having a private, comfortable "mother's room" for pumping More....while at work. I ave successfully Breastfed my first baby or 2.5 yrs, my second for 1 yr and on month 5 with my third baby. I hear horror stories fom other moms about their experiences pumping at work. The worst are from teachers and a government law office. I hope to see more accommodations made for babies to get breast milk or longer. |
| 37 |
Fri Jun 01 13:01:03 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I was a federal employee for over 6 years. This included the time before and after I had my first baby. I had a number of issues with my supervisor regarding getting and being pregnant. I was able to More....change positions.
In my new position I didn't have any issues pumping at work. I was given an empty office to use. There were only a few times that I had issues getting in to do what I need to do.
I am glad that the law came into place when it did because if it wasn't the law I don't believe I would have been given the opportunity to pump. The first time I brought it up, I was told I could us the bathroom.
I pumped until my sons 12 month birthday and am able to continue nursing. This is the most important thing for us because he has food intolerance issues that prohibit his ability to transfer to milk or formula. |
| 36 |
Fri Apr 27 13:37:22 EDT 2012 |
Amber Snow |
I recently wrote a blog about this topic. Not sure if it will be helpful in this context but here is the link: http://ambersnowflakes.blogspot.com/2012/04/pump-up-jams-pump-it-up.html |
| 35 |
Tue Apr 24 20:55:19 EDT 2012 |
Jahmari Destina |
I returned to work at my Air National Guard base after three months of maternity leave. I was surprised by the amount of support I received from the other members of my shop (which is mostly male). More....No one questioned me when I needed to pump and I was able to store my milk in our fridge with no problem. Although my pumping location isn't ideal due to the structure of our hanger, I am still breastfeeding after 18 months. |
| 34 |
Tue Apr 24 00:14:03 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
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| 33 |
Mon Apr 23 15:35:38 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I have an 11 week old baby girl and have been back at work for 5 weeks. I knew I wanted to breastfeed and it was my biggest anxiety about returning to work. It has gone perfectly so far thanks to my understanding More....co-workers and work place. I am a resident physician with a very busy daily schedule. A hands free pump has been the key so I can do computer work while pumping and not slow our very hectic clinic down. I hope to continue for up to 1 year! |
| 32 |
Mon Apr 23 15:24:56 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
With both of my children, I had to return to work after only 6 weeks of maternity leave. I would never have been able to continue breastfeeding if my employer did not provide a space for me to pump at More....work. With my first son, we only made it to 6 months before my milk dried up, mostly due to pumping issues. With my second son, we are going strong at 7 months. |
| 31 |
Mon Apr 23 14:01:04 EDT 2012 |
Anonymous |
I work for the US government overseas. After the birth of my first child, even though the new law was enacted in order to allow me to express breast milk at least twice a day - I was denied. I was told More....flat out that workplace laws like those do not apply to US Government workers overseas, even working in a US Government building. My immediate supervisor was more than happy to accommodate, but higher up management was not. I ended up quitting pumping and breastfeeding completely at the 6 month mark because my supply had dwindled so bad and I was refused breaks for expressing at that point. I was also told my another college I needed to choose between having a 'career' or 'being a mom and just having a job'. Unfortunately the main EEO office could not do much about the situation in time.
With my second child, I am staying home with him full time to nurse exclusively at least until the 4 month mark. I'd much rather have the 'job' than the 'career' in order to breast feed.
I should also note that many new mothers who work for the government rarely, if ever, are allowed the proper breaks. Kind of ironic, no? |
