I am floored.
I had been planning for this outing, away from my 9mo dd, for weeks. Making sure i had enough EBM in the freezer, making sure I had my pump all packed up, coolers, bottles, etc... I never thought that my problem would be finding somewhere to pump at the hospital. Its a HUGE university hospital-a children's hospital for that matter. After seeing my grandma off to surgery (later than expected) I was in urgent need of pumping. So I asked the ladies at the information desk if they had a lactation room. They just looked at me kinda stunned, and then one of them said "no but theres a family restroom". I was a little surprised by her suggestion, but it didn't anger me. I just figured maybe she was misinformed, new- whatever. So I explained that I felt that the bathroom was an unsanitary place to prepare my dds food.....there must be a lactation room? She again said no. I asked her of she could call and check into this, she did with no luck. So I thanked her for her time and left for another area of the hospital. I ended up inquiring with 5 other people and they all had the same suggestion. The bathroom!!! I just could not believe this at a university hospital-A place of higher learning! Finally, I went back to the surgery area and asked to talk to the manager. She suggested the same thing. I told her too, that the bathroom is unsanitary, not a place to prepare a meal, etc..... Finally, I just sat in the hallway, facing the wall and pumped there. I was away from dd 16 hours yesterday and only managed to pump 7 oz. I just couldnt get a lot of milk out sitting in a busy hallway (going to the car was not an option) My breasts are still sore today.
I am still completely floored by this. I am a nurse at a smaller hospital and we have a lactation room- or we will at least find a conference room for the mother to use. I will be addressing this, calmly and assertively, I just need to figure out who to go to.
I cant imagine how many mothers have had to pump in the bathroom.
I had been planning for this outing, away from my 9mo dd, for weeks. Making sure i had enough EBM in the freezer, making sure I had my pump all packed up, coolers, bottles, etc... I never thought that my problem would be finding somewhere to pump at the hospital. Its a HUGE university hospital-a children's hospital for that matter. After seeing my grandma off to surgery (later than expected) I was in urgent need of pumping. So I asked the ladies at the information desk if they had a lactation room. They just looked at me kinda stunned, and then one of them said "no but theres a family restroom". I was a little surprised by her suggestion, but it didn't anger me. I just figured maybe she was misinformed, new- whatever. So I explained that I felt that the bathroom was an unsanitary place to prepare my dds food.....there must be a lactation room? She again said no. I asked her of she could call and check into this, she did with no luck. So I thanked her for her time and left for another area of the hospital. I ended up inquiring with 5 other people and they all had the same suggestion. The bathroom!!! I just could not believe this at a university hospital-A place of higher learning! Finally, I went back to the surgery area and asked to talk to the manager. She suggested the same thing. I told her too, that the bathroom is unsanitary, not a place to prepare a meal, etc..... Finally, I just sat in the hallway, facing the wall and pumped there. I was away from dd 16 hours yesterday and only managed to pump 7 oz. I just couldnt get a lot of milk out sitting in a busy hallway (going to the car was not an option) My breasts are still sore today.
I am still completely floored by this. I am a nurse at a smaller hospital and we have a lactation room- or we will at least find a conference room for the mother to use. I will be addressing this, calmly and assertively, I just need to figure out who to go to.
I cant imagine how many mothers have had to pump in the bathroom.
I had a really long, descriptive post typed earlier, but it was lost so I just typed this up real fast. I guess I was just really surprised a hospital of that size, didn't have more experiences with lactating mothers. I mean, they have like, 10 coffee shops, book stores, libraries, heck... they even serve sushi 
That does seem odd for such a place 
Maybe raising some awareness will benefit the next mama.
Really, that was all I was looking for posting over here. I was 2 hours away form my babe, my grandma just went in for a very major/daunting surgery, my breasts were ready to explode, and I felt kind of lost or whatever- trying to find a place to pump for over an hour. And it was just the way everyone acted when they were talking to me about finding a place. They were talking in a low voices, squinted faces, as if they were really uncomfortable. And one after another recommended the bathroom.....one lady even said "oh, I know where" and walked me to a single stall bathroom and opened the door. It smelled gross. . . and I know she meant well. . . but thats what bothered me- thats the norm with bfing.
When she asked about it, they said that most of their surgeons don't nurse since they have to be in surgery several hours at a time and can't take breaks to pump. She just got mad and pointed out that surgeons aren't the only ones in the hospital! They also said (I think, or something like this) that they are required to provide one for employees if requested, but no one ever has. So even though she had stopped bf at this point, she requested one. She finished her residency a few months later though, so I don't know what happened. A hospital, of all places.
but 
up reminded me of a joke:
