Need help, new mum and breastfeeding at work

dawnm96700

Thanks to all have replied

wishiwasarichgirl

dawnm96700 wrote: »

Would you eat your food if it came from a box and onto a plate for example, guess not.
Hygiene standards all different i suppose!!!! :rolleyes:

umm, like a kfc or mcdonalds? yes i would. ok their hygiene standards may not be up to much either but it's hardly gonna kill me

don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you want to give your baby breastmilk, but you also have to see your employers views, they may simply not have anywhere private you can go (do they have an office or anything you could use?) and they definitely should not have to pay you - that's just unfair on the non-parents who don't get paid time off during the working day.

bumblebee23

I'm not sure why you feel you should be paid to express milk? You will be taking an hour out of the business day to do this and if any other employee requested a 'personal' hour they would be unpaid. Can you not ask for your lunch hour to be split into 2 shifts and express the milk on your own time?

I can appreciate that you would need somewhere quiet to breastfeed but again if it is not practical for the company to provide this and it is not a legal requirement then you will have to make arrangements yourself.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but I find it a little irksome when people expect companies to bend over backwards because THEY decided to have a child. Your employers pay you to do a job for them in the hours that you are there, your responsibilities outside of work are just that, your responsibilities and not theirs.

JoolzS

bumblebee23 wrote: »

I'm not sure why you feel you should be paid to express milk? You will be taking an hour out of the business day to do this and if any other employee requested a 'personal' hour they would be unpaid. Can you not ask for your lunch hour to be split into 2 shifts and express the milk on your own time?

I can appreciate that you would need somewhere quiet to breastfeed but again if it is not practical for the company to provide this and it is not a legal requirement then you will have to make arrangements yourself.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic but I find it a little irksome when people expect companies to bend over backwards because THEY decided to have a child. Your employers pay you to do a job for them in the hours that you are there, your responsibilities outside of work are just that, your responsibilities and not theirs.

What s/he said.

Julie

shelene

Hi, i also returned back to work as a breast feeding Mother and my employer was extremely good, however i do work for the local authority who are themselves promoting breastfeeding for healthier babies, ie less time off sick etc.

I guess it depends on who you work for, and sympathaise with you being unable to comfortably return to work and express milk rather than stay off and continue to claim maternity benefit. I certainly would not even consider expressing or indeed breastfeeding in a toilet, that is disgusting to even consider in this day and age. I guess those that have not breastfed do not understand that if you dont express as you need you might leak or become sore and ill with mastitis, and be off sick.

I would stand your ground and try be suggest a creative idea where you could possibly express, is there any office which has a lockable door? To express it certainly needs to be private as you may offend others, expressing in front of people may in fact cause your employer to sort you somewhere out after they start getting complaints from staff!

This should be something you are proud to be doing and a positive, and in regards to getting paid to express, would people prefer dawnm96700 to stay off and claim benefit longer or be earning a wage? I guess all the smokers too should not be allowed extra breaks to smoke (the amount of paid time that staff take smoking breaks im sure outweighs the amount of time taken by breastfeeding mothers who are contributing to promoting public health and protecting their children!)

What a backward way of thinking!

McKneff

shelene wrote: »

Hi, i also returned back to work as a breast feeding Mother and my employer was extremely good, however i do work for the local authority who are themselves promoting breastfeeding for healthier babies, ie less time off sick etc.

I guess it depends on who you work for, and sympathaise with you being unable to comfortably return to work and express milk rather than stay off and continue to claim maternity benefit. I certainly would not even consider expressing or indeed breastfeeding in a toilet, that is disgusting to even consider in this day and age. I guess those that have not breastfed do not understand that if you dont express as you need you might leak or become sore and ill with mastitis, and be off sick.

I would stand your ground and try be suggest a creative idea where you could possibly express, is there any office which has a lockable door? To express it certainly needs to be private as you may offend others, expressing in front of people may in fact cause your employer to sort you somewhere out after they start getting complaints from staff!

This should be something you are proud to be doing and a positive, and in regards to getting paid to express, would people prefer dawnm96700 to stay off and claim benefit longer or be earning a wage? I guess all the smokers too should not be allowed extra breaks to smoke (the amount of paid time that staff take smoking breaks im sure outweighs the amount of time taken by breastfeeding mothers who are contributing to promoting public health and protecting their children!)

What a backward way of thinking!

I have lost count of the threads when a post starts about something specifice and it ends up mentioning smokers. I get a TWO minute break for a cig on a morning and a TWO minute break for a cig on an afternoon. To cover for this i am at work at least 5 minutes on a morning and 5 again on an after noon. So i work at least 30 minutes extra a week for the privelege.
Leave us alone please

shelene

anniehanlon - Unfortunately this is not in all cases or employers, i have colleagues who must take about 1 1/2 hrs a day for extra breaks.
i welcome your comment and pleased you take that responsibility.

I meant it just to make a comparison as this Mum who is trying to do her best is getting alot of negative comments on here, about trying to do something postive. Really she should be supported.

Apologies if this personally offended you, but have other experiences of this.

LindsayO

might they allow you to work different hours, or is two days a week you choice?
If you worked fewer hours over more days you might be able to expess milk at home.
Might not work for you, but might be worth considering

trickytrolleys

shelene wrote: »

anniehanlon - Unfortunately this is not in all cases or employers, i have colleagues who must take about 1 1/2 hrs a day for extra breaks.
i welcome your comment and pleased you take that responsibility.

I meant it just to make a comparison as this Mum who is trying to do her best is getting alot of negative comments on here, about trying to do something postive. Really she should be supported.

Apologies if this personally offended you, but have other experiences of this.

In my opinion the best thing would be to not leave a baby that is still breastfeeding, how much milk does a 9 month old need anyway - babies are well onto 'food' by the time they are this age.

Sorry but I agree you shouldnt expect to be paid for this, somewhere private - yes, but paid ?? NO WAY!

cannyscot_2

Hi

Keep talking to them. I expressed as I went back to work early due to various things .

At first they were sceptical but then i e-mailed then the various links above and they organiseda meeting room to be booked 2x a day. It was abit stressful as I had to make sure I did at the right time. You definately needa private room. Bad news I did split my lunch hour (ie unpaid) in 2 \and have 1/2 hr morn and 1/2 an hour afternoon.

To be honest it is hard work so stick with it if you need but sooner you dont have to the better.