One of the toughest decisions any new mother faces is whether to breast feed or bottle feed the new baby. This decision is often even tougher for moms who have jobs and careers that they need to get back to shortly after baby is born.

In recent years, the Family Medical Leave Act and other legislation has made it a matter of law that you can spend an adequate amount of time away from work after you have your baby without having to fear losing your job. However, if you’re anything like most of us, you probably have a limit on how long you can afford to be away from work.

Of course, if you can afford to take the time off work, the longer you take off after your baby is born, the better. You only get to experience these times in your baby’s life once, and there are all kinds of benefits for you and the baby of staying home if you are able to do so, convenience of breastfeeding being only one of them.

If you do need to go back to work, and have made the decision to breast feed your baby, you will need to make arrangements for when baby needs to eat and you are at work. Some employers are more willing to work with you on this than others.

If you are one of the fortunate ones who has access to day care at your job site, you may be able to breastfeed your little one during breaks. Of course, this still may require finding a private place, but most companies which are forward thinking enough to offer child care will also be willing to work with you to provide a place where you can breastfeed your baby.

If you don’t have access to day care on site, you will probably need to pump breast milk, especially if you are feeding baby exclusively with breast milk, as is recommended for the first four to six months of baby’s life. Start pumping breast milk regularly at least one week before returning to work, to make sure that you are going to be able to provide enough pumped breast milk for your baby.

Most employers are willing to make reasonable accommodations so that you can express breast milk as long as you communicate with them. Finding a private place to pump can be problematic, of course, but it is worth it in the end to know that your baby is getting the best nutrition available. Ideally, you should store the breast milk that you pump in a refrigerator. If you don’t have access to a refrigerator at work, breast milk can be stored at room temperature for 4-6 hours.

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