I pumped for a little over a year at work when I had my last child five years ago. I worked nights on a smaller unit; It generally took fifteen minutes every four hours to pump. I had a hands free set up so I ate my lunch while I pumped and never took a lunch break.
Most of my coworkers were supportive, but one was not. She would not get my callbells etc while I was pumping, even though I was careful to always ask my patients if they needed anything, change IV bags, etc prior to pumping. What was hilarious was this was a pediatric unit where we gave a lot of lipservice to being "so supportive" of breastfeeding moms. This particular coworker wore a breastfeeding pin on her nametag! She often said to me, "It must be nice to get 15 minutes breaks every four hours!"
I ignored her and pumped until my baby weaned. But I hear it frequently from other moms - that their coworkers aren't supportive of their breastfeeding/ having to pump at work. When I work with a woman who is breastpumping I always try to help her out and support her. I think it's sad when women don't support other women with this, especially of late when studies make it so that one just can't deny the benefits of breastfeeding.
