Ep. 7: Breastfeeding and returning to work – how hard is it?

This week on the podcast I chat with Tessa about her breastfeeding experience with her son Elliot and what it was like returning to work. Tessa works as a Goldsmith in London’s Notting Hill and is fortunate to love her job, but that didn’t mean going back was easy!

Like a lot of breastfeeding mamas who’ve been on maternity leave during the Covid pandemic, Tessa spent all her time with her baby and never really needed to pump. So how did she manage a new routine of pumping milk for her son and returning to work? And how did her little boy adapt to being in a nursery and having to take a bottle of expressed milk?

We look at what worked and what didn’t work for Tessa and why it can be difficult to continue to breastfeed upon returning to work. We discuss how hard it can be to prepare yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally to return to work…especially in these uncertain times when work demands and work environments are changing. But, we also look at how going back to work can be a really positive thing too – for both mama and baby!

Listen to our episode here

“Because of lockdown, I hadn’t really had the need to express milk during maternity leave so didn’t have a stash of milk ready for going back to work which left me a bit panicked.”

Tessa

Tessa’s big talking points

• Her elective c-section birth and the trouble she had waking her sleepy baby to feed
• The rigorous feeding and pumping program she adopted to get Elliot’s weight up after birth
• The rollercoaster of emotions you go on in the run-up to returning to work and afterward
• What her job as a Goldsmith entails and how she was able to pump milk during work
• How Elliot adapted to being looked after in nursery and taking a bottle
• How other mamas can best-prepare for returning to work and continuing to breastfeed

Notes

Tessa mentions that she uses the EcoMum electric pump (similar to the Bellababy electric pump) after being recommend it by her midwife.