places i've pumped

We just got back from Pampanga yesterday after conducting a two-day training session on Communication and Design Thinking for our public school principals for Excel. Running it meant being away from Audrey for 8 straight hours, which happens rarely because I bring her to work on regular days and I haven't been out on a social trip that lasted 8 hours.

Eight hours without baby means I absolutely have to pump milk. For the benefit of non-lactating people, breastfeeding mothers need to pump when away from the baby so that:

1. our milk supply does not drop. Milk supply is dependent on demand, so if there is no action to extract milk from the breast, the body thinks you no longer need milk and consequently reduces supply. Pumping removes milk when mom and baby are not together so the body continues to produce milk.

2. we avoid getting infections. When the breasts get engorged with milk and it is not expressed, it can lead to plugged milk ducts, which can lead to a painful condition known as mastitis, an infection of the breast tissue. Mastitis may require surgery if not treated right away. Pumping relieves engorgement and therefore reduces our risk of getting plugged ducts.

3. if ever we need to be apart again, baby still has food because mama pumped milk and has several bags of milk ready in the fridge.

I once spilled milk right after pumping and almost had a heart attack.

Because I would be away for 8 hours, I planned on pumping three times throughout the day. Thankfully, during the first module of our training program, the DepEd Superintendent, Sir Ding, allowed me to pump in the anteroom of his office. So I knew that at least I'll have a private place to pump milk.

I've pumped in more random places. I've also read about Bianca Gonzales-Intal who pumped in her seat under a shirt while watching an NBA game live. Also a mom who pumped while watching Les Miserables in Solaire. I mostly pump milk at my office and a few times in legit breastfeeding stations. Other than that, so far, I've pumped milk at/in:

1. the car, on the way to wherever we have to go (several times; car tints are lifesavers)
2. the car, while parked (several times as well--in parking lots outside a restaurant, across the US Embassy, outside DepEd Pampanga)
3. Funeraria Paz (not their restroom, but at the actual room of the wake. Thankfully it was 8 in the morning so there were no other visitors but my high school friends and me)
3. The waiting area beside the ladies' restroom at CCP
4. DepEd Division of Pampanga Superintendent's office's anteroom
5. At a corner of the Teachers' Training Center in DepEd Pampanga

At the DepEd Pampanga Superintendent's office

I once wondered if I could pump while watching a show in CCP. But I use an electric pump and it's not exactly the quietest machine in the world.

Indeed, you never truly realize the needs of other people (especially the marginalized) until you experience their life for yourself. I never once thought about breastfeeding stations even when I knew a lot of breastfeeding mothers. Now that I am one, I'm beginning to see which places here are really mother- and baby-friendly. There's a law mandating companies to provide lactation rooms and lactation breaks for working and nursing moms, but I feel we still have a long way to go before breastfeeding and pumping mothers are given the space they need to feed their children.