Breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks and it takes time for mothers and babies to get it right. After struggling through the first few days, and then weeks, mother and baby usually start enjoying the experience by the time her maternity leave is up! Then it’s back to work and the end of breastfeeding!
This is a pity because the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the initial inconveniences and difficulties. If men had babies, maternity leave would be much longer and the work place would provide crèche facilities so that babies could be fed during working hours!
But since this is not to be, working mothers can arrange to work shorter hours or she could minimize breastfeeding to the mornings and evenings when she is home with her baby. Hand and electric pumps are useful to express breastmilk during the day while she is at the office – but finding a suitably clean and private place to do this is often a problem. Stored EBM (expressed breast milk) in the office fridge is either frowned on or joked about – much to the mother’s embarrassment.
With the economy nosediving and the cost of living and child care escalating, many women are taking advantage of modern technology and setting up office from home (even if it’s only a small table with a printer and space for a laptop) and popping into the office once or twice a week. Income can be earned by investing in a sewing machine and becoming creative, whisking up cakes for restaurants, making healthy sandwiches for the school tuckshop or cooking meals for other families.
Motherhood does not mean shelving years of studying or working hard to earn your place on the corporate ladder – but lost quality time with your baby and children can never be reclaimed no matter how successful you become. Extra money to buy, buy, buy doesn’t impress children, but they do enjoy it when you give them your time and attention. When women are so busy trying to keep everybody (husband, boss, day mother, employer and taxman) happy, the little people they brought into this world are often the first to be ignored.
Self-employed from home can and has become a full-time, successful career for many women. It takes guts, help and co-operation from your partner, energy, determination and perseverance – but it is possible. I don’t regret doing it – and I don’t think my children do either!
