55. Feel Guilty Taking Time to Pump? How I Overcame the Stigmas & Fears of Advocating for Myself and You Can Too

How do we overcome all the stigmas? Breach these taboo topics? Advocate for ourselves & our families to our leaders? Ask for what we need when it comes to lactation support without feeling like a burden?

Pumping as a working mom is quite challenging. Pumping in the military, even more so.

And sometimes those visible & invisible barriers can make us feel forced to choose between.

We may be dealing with unsupportive or unaware leaders, so the burden is falling on us to educate them & initiate the often terrifying, uncomfortable conversations to ask for a lactation room when we’re the first ever, and we’ve barely even had any women in our unit before.

We may be told to just go pump in the bathroom or may be feeling like a hassle, inconvenience or a liability when asking for accommodations to be factored into mission planning for a range, field training, or other operations.

We may worry we’re letting the team down, be stressed about how we're going to keep up with our job demands, or be anxious about perceptions & potential career impacts if we have to take time from work to pump every few hours.

We may feel pressure to “hide” our motherhood to be accepted & respected, or feel so much pressure to downplay our motherhood if we want to be successful in our careers.

So today's episode is an honest conversation full of my best tips to navigate these dynamics and realities of motherhood & breastfeeding in uniform. I share a few vulnerable stories of moments I’ve overcome my own fears, how I’ve made it work to continue breastfeeding my babies when I feel those tensions, and how we can normalize motherhood to be the best moms AND leaders we can be at the same time.

It is possible do both and do both well, and continue breaking down barriers for all the women who follow.

 

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Recommended Resources:

Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: Regulations & Resources for All Branches of the Military: LOTS of great tips & info here!

Your local Mom2Mom Global Chapter may have good in-person support and even have a military "branch" of the chapter to join!

For my Army mamas - Lactation Support paragraphs of this Article we wrote

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Overcome the Overwhelm (Feel like your to-do-list is never-ending, and pulled in a million directions? Grab my FREE guide to help you balance work + mom life with less guilt + more peace, with God at the center)

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PREGNANCY & POSTPARTUM FITNESS RESOURCES:

Free Postpartum Fitness Guide: How to Return to Fitness Postpartum for Military Mamas + Beyond

Free Pregnancy Exercise Guide: How to Safely Exercise + Maintain Fitness Through Pregnancy

Strong + Resilient Postpartum Fitness Program (18 week+ Plan for Busy, Active Mamas in the military + beyond who want to get stronger, heal their core + pelvic floor + regain confidence in their bodies again after giving birth, and have an empowering postpartum experience where you & your family can truly thrive)