Astronomy
So, all of a sudden it seems like there are a million babies showing up in 2011 and I find myself encouraging the expectant parents to have their baby be breast-fed. I generally mention that they should not feel like they should try to figure it out on their own, resources like La Leche League (a support group for nursing mothers) or working mothers? nursing support groups arranged through local hospitals are available. There are studies showing that this kind of support is critical to maintaining a nursing relationship with a child.
So it is time for me to take my own advice. My daughter just passed her first birthday. I realized recently that I don?t know what this ?looks like.? Personally, I nurse 4-5 times per day (a couple of these are overnight) and I still pump twice per day on a work day. I love the connection with my daughter, but hey, life is demanding and I wonder about making it to the WHO-recommended two year mark. Being a scientist, I loved the data I have read on the biological (and other!) benefits of nursing to two years, but being a scientist and mother, I have a full work load and a now very active little toddler. Right now (at one year ) I feel like nursing to two years may be like running a marathon. However, I know that the second year is very different from the first, so it isn?t like I am just repeating everything I already went through.
So, now I am asking for feedback from working scientist mothers who nursed well past a year. Although I'm obviously reaching out to astrophysicists, feel free to forward this request to your scientist buddies in other fields! I want to know ?what does this look like?? (what did it look like for you?) How did you make it work? How did you handle the challenges of travel? How did you handle the peer pressure to stop? What resources helped you? (I have heard about the book ?Mother Your Nursing Toddler?, for instance, is that helpful or dated in 2011?). How did you feel about continuing the relationship that long?
You can post a fairly anonymous reply to this blog OR you can email me directly Ann.Hornschemeier AT nasa.gov (preferably before end of May 2011). Please let me know if I should keep your comments anonymous as I hope to compile them for my blog in June.
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- The Importance Of Lactation Rooms At Work
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One year ago today I was in the hospital awaiting the arrival of my daughter. At this point I was realizing the induction might not go as quickly as we hoped. It lasted 40 hours and failed so I had a C-section. Then I struggled to feed my daughter initially....
- A Trip Through The ?milky? Way: Adventures In Astrophysics And Breastfeeding
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Astronomy
Taking my own advice: Calling scientists who nursed past a year, please share!
So, all of a sudden it seems like there are a million babies showing up in 2011 and I find myself encouraging the expectant parents to have their baby be breast-fed. I generally mention that they should not feel like they should try to figure it out on their own, resources like La Leche League (a support group for nursing mothers) or working mothers? nursing support groups arranged through local hospitals are available. There are studies showing that this kind of support is critical to maintaining a nursing relationship with a child.
So it is time for me to take my own advice. My daughter just passed her first birthday. I realized recently that I don?t know what this ?looks like.? Personally, I nurse 4-5 times per day (a couple of these are overnight) and I still pump twice per day on a work day. I love the connection with my daughter, but hey, life is demanding and I wonder about making it to the WHO-recommended two year mark. Being a scientist, I loved the data I have read on the biological (and other!) benefits of nursing to two years, but being a scientist and mother, I have a full work load and a now very active little toddler. Right now (at one year ) I feel like nursing to two years may be like running a marathon. However, I know that the second year is very different from the first, so it isn?t like I am just repeating everything I already went through.
So, now I am asking for feedback from working scientist mothers who nursed well past a year. Although I'm obviously reaching out to astrophysicists, feel free to forward this request to your scientist buddies in other fields! I want to know ?what does this look like?? (what did it look like for you?) How did you make it work? How did you handle the challenges of travel? How did you handle the peer pressure to stop? What resources helped you? (I have heard about the book ?Mother Your Nursing Toddler?, for instance, is that helpful or dated in 2011?). How did you feel about continuing the relationship that long?
You can post a fairly anonymous reply to this blog OR you can email me directly Ann.Hornschemeier AT nasa.gov (preferably before end of May 2011). Please let me know if I should keep your comments anonymous as I hope to compile them for my blog in June.
- Pumping At 23, The Extended Mission Through The Milky Way
I couldn?t resist choosing the blog title ?pumping at 23?. Since this is a blog about maintaining an astrophysics career and nursing a child, one might logically think it refers to a 23-year-old mother pumping milk. In my case, since it will be ten years...
- A Metric For Workplace Environment Culture: How Long Do Mothers Nurse?
If you think you have a positive culture at work for families, how would you measure it? One might be to determine how long, on average, the mothers of young children nurse their children. The workplace environment has a significant impact on the nursing...
- The Importance Of Lactation Rooms At Work
Recently, we have been going through a round of milestones in the lactation room in my building at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It is hard to believe that three first birthdays will have been reached by the end of May. These three women are myself,...
- A First Anniversary: Motherhood And Astrophysics
One year ago today I was in the hospital awaiting the arrival of my daughter. At this point I was realizing the induction might not go as quickly as we hoped. It lasted 40 hours and failed so I had a C-section. Then I struggled to feed my daughter initially....
- A Trip Through The ?milky? Way: Adventures In Astrophysics And Breastfeeding
@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Breastfeeding...