24 Hours with a Nursing Mom

The day a nursing mom returns from maternity leave, she finds herself in a nonstop cycle of feeding, pumping, and bottle washing - all while balancing her workload.

Curious what that might look like? Below you'll find a illustrative example of a nursing mom's weekday schedule.

At first glance, it might appear that these moms simply have a couple extra responsibilities throughout the day. In reality, the extra burden is much more daunting.

Pumping sessions

Nursing moms must pump on the same schedule their babies are feeding. That means, per our example, every time Liam receives a bottle at daycare, his mom needs to pump. Sticking to that schedule is critical to ensuring mom keeps producing enough breastmilk for Liam's bottles.

Each pumping session typically takes around 30 minutes but every mom and situation is different. It can take much longer depending on her expression flow, clean up time, etc. And in the event she's unable to get into the lactation room when she needs to, it can have a cascading effect on the rest of her day.

Little margin for error

Speaking of cascading effects, with such small margins for error in her day, the slightest deviations of any kind can send this mom's day spiraling out of control. Something as simple as returning home to grab forgotten diapers can make her late for work, impact the timing of her pumping windows, or even cause her to stay late at work. Let alone her or Liam coming down with an inevitable illness that makes everything ten times more difficult.

All of these factors can ultimately have a negative impact on her mental and/or physical wellbeing.

How you can help

Many nursing moms will stay silent even when they're struggling to keep up. Providing them with extra grace and flexibility, particularly in the first year, can go along way in helping them balance daily routines.

Looking for ways to better support women as they return from maternity leave? Check out our tips for managers.