Very strange question to ask - Page 2

[hunnybumm]

I am not military, my DH is but I have spoken to a few military mothers and it is truely sad the situation these woman are put into. Military woman get the initial 6 weeks off paid and they have to promptly go back to work (I don't know how the 14 week think works for them) at which time they have to be in the same shape they were prepregnancy. They can be given a fitness test, weighed, etc and if they are not at where they should be according to the 'charts' they can be put on the weight management program. Which can included manditory excercise (have to sign in at the gym, my DH had to go 3 hours a day), weight management classes, regular meetings with a 'nutritian councelor', as well as their regular work duties.

I assume they are suppose to be allowed to pump at work as well but most I have talked to just weaned by 6 weeks or didn't BF at all so they could hit the gym, diet, etc.

[Firemom]

Well, I did it. I went back to work at 4 months as a firefighter. I never got out of shape, I worked out up until the day I delviered (weight training, aerobics, you name it) and was back working out shortly after delivery. I was in just as good a shape after my delivery. So it is possilbe.

I pumped on my 24 hour shifts and nursed on demand when I was home.

[irinam]

Can it be done? You bet. Even back in the day in slavery slave women managed to nurture their newborns. Can the informed and strong women tough this missley(sp) 6/12/18 weeks LOA, return to work, find time/energy/determination to pump and store at work, boost the likely dwindling supply with herbal supplements? You bet (BTDT)

Is it right? Does it help women that are NOT that determined and/or informed? No, no and no.

The way I see it - it is in the best interests of any society to have their new members as healthy and apt as possible. And the way this can be achieved is by providing a much longer leave of absence without geopardising the well-being of the family or having to choose between poverty and well-balnced children.

Yes, it can be done. The question is - why do we face this choice?

[~ATenthMuse~]

Originally Posted by hunnybumm

I am not military, my DH is but I have spoken to a few military mothers and it is truely sad the situation these woman are put into. Military woman get the initial 6 weeks off paid and they have to promptly go back to work (I don't know how the 14 week think works for them) at which time they have to be in the same shape they were prepregnancy. They can be given a fitness test, weighed, etc and if they are not at where they should be according to the 'charts' they can be put on the weight management program. Which can included manditory excercise (have to sign in at the gym, my DH had to go 3 hours a day), weight management classes, regular meetings with a 'nutritian councelor', as well as their regular work duties.

I assume they are suppose to be allowed to pump at work as well but most I have talked to just weaned by 6 weeks or didn't BF at all so they could hit the gym, diet, etc.

Exactly right. Which is why I'm glad that I got out when dd was born. I had a few friends within the same battalion that were preggo same time as me. Some stayed and some didn't. Sadly, the ones that did, bf little if at all. Most of those babies were in daycare AT LEAST 12 hrs a day...not counting being with someone else if there was a field exercise.

BUT when I first arrived at the unit there was one female soldier in my section who was a single parent with a 2-3 mth old baby...who wouldn't take a bottle. She got a note from a dr. allowing her to leave to nurse the babe once mid morning and once mid afternoon, she went a total of 5 times if she nursed straight after being released in the eve. She was one awesome soldier AND momma in my book.

Also, when going to the field, which for us was usually 7-14 days, the mailperson would transport a pump out and then take the milk back to be given to primary care provider of baby. NOW this I never saw actually happen but the information was given out.

As far as staying fit...ending up in the overweight program was NOT something you'd want to do...we had one guy friend who was constantly in it...he did pt all day long!
I didn't have a weight gain prob til after I had dd, first 2-3 mths of nursing I WAS ravenous after being nauseous for so long. I lived on ice it seemed. I did pt until my 7-almost 8 mth...or until I was put on bedrest.

Female soldiers having babies while in the military is hard on everyone.


PS**I wanna have my next in Canada!!! :LOL

[I STIK M]

wow, to me 6 weeks seems like forever...
my son was born on a thurs night 8:45 pm, i took off work fri, did some calling sat, went back into the office monday! but, i have my own space, ds and dh come into the office with me, now at 8 months i am just starting to let them stay home on my half days, but its tough!i have never taken off more than three days for anything, i work 6 days a week, this year i took off new years day, today, and only worked half day yesterday, so i have two and half days off! woohoo, so much time....

[asherah]

Well, it really wasn't hard for me at all.

I had 10 weeks off... and my supply was well established when I went back to work.
I went part time for the first month... 3 days a week.. and pumped twice a shift.
When I went back fulltime, I kept up the pumping.. and dh would bring ds to me on slow days, so I could nurse him in the company lactation room.
I kept this up for the first year.
After that, he was eating more solids.. so I pumped 1x a day.. than didn't pump at all once he was 18 months.
He is 32 months old and we are still nursing.

I am lucky in that my employers are very supportive of b-fing female employees..
So it wasn't difficult at all. Pumping was part of my work routine. And I used an Avent Isis.. I got more with it than I did with the fancy Medela I rented. I took that sucker back after a month.. The Avent was awesome for me.

I was scared when I first went back to work but we all did fine.

[Aura_Kitten]

ditto to what just about everyone said ~ most working mamas in America DON'T breastfeed. and the ones that do, pump.

i'm working, and starting in 8 days (( )) i'm going back to school full-time. i pump like a mad woman. i pump before i leave for work in the morning, then at lunch time (i come home for lunch ~ pump for about 15 to, if i can stretch my lunch break that long, 20 minutes), and then again at night, or a couple of times at night if i can.

i hate pumping... but i love breastfeeding, and i know that the only reason i can still breastfeed my daughter is because i've kept up my milk supply through pumping.

my biggest bit of advice is to invest in a GOOD electric pump. don't mess around with the crappy cheap pumps.

[JodiL]

It's hard work, but completely worth it. I went back to work with both children at 6wks. I would nurse the last thing before walking out the door, pump at 9am, come home for lunch at noon, pump again at 3pm and then nurse the rest of the night. Gabrielle nursed until she self-weaned at 25mo and Claudia is 14mo and still oh so very much into nursing.

It is very sad that it is this way for working mothers, but it is doable.

[boingo82]

I went back to work at 10 weeks pp (when my sick and vacation pay had run out, I didn't get paid mat. leave) and so my supply was well established. I just pump while at work - I actually get away with one pumping session in 8 hours, which usually yields 8-10 oz. Then, depending on how much milk DS went through that day, I either pump once more when I get home, or just feed him. And I nurse on demand when I'm at home of course.

It is a pain sometimes but worth it.

[Jordansmommy]

Originally Posted by nancy926

The US has the Family and Medical Leave Act now, which entitles you to 16 weeks of unpaid but job-protected leave. It's still really lame compared to a year off with partial pay though!!

I got 6 weeks of short-term disability leave (60 percent pay) and then took another 10 weeks unpaid (which we had saved for). I work from home though, so bfing was much easier for me than for WOHMs. I don't know how people do that and I have the utmost respect for any mom who pumps 5 days a week!

It's 12 weeks of job protected leave. Many employers also allow you to use vacation on top of that, though it's not required.

To the OP, I pumped. It wasn't easy. Supposed to be "allowed" at work but that doesn't mean it isn't frowned upon slightly :

[Ravin]

In the Navy women have 6 months postpartum before they are expected to meet fitness/weight requirements.

BUT if they're due for sea rotation (as, for example, if they were removed from shipboard duty while pregnant, which occurs whenever the ship leaves port and for a new limited duty assignment once the pregnant servicemember reaches 20 weeks gestation), they can be required to go to sea with their ship and leave their baby at 4 months. My sister had a friend who nursed her baby then WEANED HER COLD TURKEY when her ship pulled out. My sister was basically her nanny at the time (for her share of room and board in the apartment where they lived), and said it was a very, very difficult thing for the baby to go through, but the mom just took sudafed and got on with her life.

No, not the best mother and not particularly AP. But I'm getting sidetracked.

When I was considering a career in the Navy, I planned to start TTC when I hit a shore rotation so that I wouldn't face the leave-your-baby and go to sea situation...then I concluded (being of AP leanings and browsing MDC from my ship even then) that I wouldn't want to leave my toddler to go to sea, either, and didn't reenlist.

There is no legislation to protect the right to pump in the workplace, either. If the employer won't provide the break time, the mother might have no choice but to supplement with formula. This is often the situation in service-industry type jobs.

[sovereignqueen]

I got 8 weeks at partial pay. I pumped 3x a day. it was hard. now I wah at its much easier.