1. Myth: It’s Normal for Nipples to Hurt
Breastfeeding does not have to hurt. Nipples can and will feel sore if you're breastfeeding your newborn every couple of hours and especially when they start teething but there are ways to ease the discomfort or pain.
Congress recently passed the "Preventing Maternal Deaths Act". This bill was passed to support States in their work to save and sustain the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the postpartum period, to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes for pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths, to identify solutions to improve healthcare quality and health outcomes for mothers, and for other purposes.
...There is a new drug on the market for Mothers experiencing the baby blues. It's called Zulresso. The drug, Zulresso is a synthetic form of a hormone produced in the brain, acts quickly, and its effects can last for a month. Until a pill version is approved, the patient has to be hospitalized for 60 hours and receive the drug by IV. She can’t be home with her new baby because the drug may cause dizziness and unconsciousness. The price is also an astonishing $34,000 per treatment.
...Choosing a company to work for as an independent working woman is one thing but once you become pregnant everything changes. Some women don't expect to get pregnant at their current job and could care less about the company’s policies on maternity leave. I am here to warn you that the company you work for is just as important as the hospital you choose to deliver your baby. America is lagging behind when it comes to benefits for working mothers among other civilized countries. The United States remains the only country in the developed world that does not mandate employers offer paid leave according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. American women have been working later into their pregnancies and going back to work sooner after birth. Research has shown that paid maternity leave is associated with better job performance and retention among mothers, increased family incomes, and increased economic growth.
...The locations available to me to pump are all pretty inconvenient to say the least. I’m going to share some of my struggles and offer solutions. I think we need to shed light on this issue.
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1:(r)An employer shall provide—
(A) a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk; and
(B) a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.
2: An employer shall not be required to compensate an employee receiving reasonable break time under paragraph (1) for any work time spent for such purpose.
3: An employer that employs less than 50 employees shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection, if such requirements would impose an undue hardship by causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer’s business.