Finding Clean, Safe Places to Pump Your Breast Milk

If you’re pumping breast milk for your baby, you may need to pump on-the-go. What happens if you’re not near your usual pumping spots? How do you find a spot that’s private and has everything you need? How do you know if it’s a “safe” location to pump? And what are some tips for turning a “not-so-great” spot into something that works?

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Episode Transcript

The Boob Group
Finding Clean, Safe Places to Pump Your Breastmilk

Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: New moms are busy moms. If you’re pumping breast milk for your baby, that may include pumping on the go. What happens if you’re not near your usual pumping spots? How do you find a spot that’s private and has everything you need? How do you know if it’s a “safe” location to pump? And what are some tips for turning a “not-so-great” spot into something that works? Today we're talking about how to find clean, safe places to pump your breast-milk. We are The Boob Group.

[Theme Music/Intro]

SUNNY GAULT: Welcome to The Boob Group. I am Sunny Gault and I'm of your co-host for the show. That's right, we are changing things up here on The Boob Group. And really this is the first episode where you guys can now see some of those changes. We've been working on it for a while. We're really excited to talk about. How are things changing here on The Boob Group? So the moms are now running the show. Breastfeeding, pumping moms, we have a group of amazing moms that are going to be sharing the spotlight with me co-hosting The Boob Group. Sharing their own personal experiences. All of these moms are experienced moms. They're passionate about providing breast-milk to their babies and we're just so excited to have them on the show. Lot of the moms have very diverse background and experience when it comes to breastfeeding and pumping for their babies. So I think it's going to just really change-up the conversation and make things really interesting. So, today's topic is how do you find those good pumping spots when you're out and about. So, let's meet some of the mommas that are joining the conversation today. Ladies, Priya, let's start with you. Tell something about yourself, your family and your experience with today's topic.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Thank you Sunny. Well I'm so excited to be part of this group and this new format that you're doing. My name is Priya Nembhard and I'm an entrepreneur also the co-founder of “Moms PumpHere” which is an app moms can download for free to find locations to breastfeed and breast pump. And I'm also a mom of three.

SUNNY GAULT: I love it.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Thank you.

SUNNY GAULT: I love it. I love your app. I use your app. I'm a fan Priya. Okay, continue.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Nice. I want to a review. So, I have three kids. My oldest... it's been a while since I've pumped and breastfed but the urgency of my app came about because of my business partner. But I'll get into that later. I have three kids, my oldest is thirteen, my middle is eleven and my youngest is eight and my youngest I actually breastfed for 3 years. Until my sister was like, "you got to get off." I couldn't let go. So I have a very... with each of them very unique stories about breastfeeding and breast-pumping and I can't wait to share them with everybody.

SUNNY GAULT: Awesome. Thanks so much. And Nayeli, hello Nayeli tell us a little bit about you, your family and your experience.

NAYELI GOMEZ: Hi! My name is Nayeli Gomez and I am a mom. I'm the mom of Aileen and she is 21 months. She's still being breastfed. So, I started pumping right after she was born because she ended up at the NICU for 10 days following birth. So, I have to start pumping and I wasn't prepared to start doing it soon even though I anticipated to do it because I knew I was going to go back to work. I started pumping and it became very easy for me. I had a lot of support, the nurses explained to me how to. So, I started... because I started right after birth I just kept doing it so I could store milk. So when I went back to work... so I was mainly doing at home and then at work, my little spot. I did not have a desk job, so it's not like I could do it in my office and we had to work around things there. And yes, as why actually I had to rotate in a couple of places until I sit on for the best place in my work... in the building where I work.

SUNNY GAULT: I have to give you a lot of props because moms who that go through the NICU I mean you're kind of forced into having to pump even though that may not have been your original plan. And so I have to give you a lot of props because it can totally throw stuffs off and I'm so glad to hear that you were able to make that transition and then continue to breastfeed your baby. Sounds like that was important to you as well and so I love hearing that. I think it's really valuable your experience. Awesome!

I'll tell you guys a little bit of myself. I'm Sunny Gault and I am the owner of New Mommy Media which produces this show. We've got few other podcasts that are geared towards new and expecting parents that we do. I am a breastfeeding mom myself and I breastfed 4 kids and pumped for 4 kids. And my oldest is 5 and then my middle guy is 3 and then I have identical twin girls who are... always get this wrong you guys because after they hit the 2 year mark, the months thing just have stolen my sit-ups. I'm just going to say like, I think it's 27 months but again I always get it wrong. And my twins really are my success story in my mind because I kind of had some trial and error with my boys and what worked and what didn't work for me as far as breastfeeding is concerned. But I did pump for my babies at first cause they came out and they are 35 week-ers. Didn't need the NICU but they are right on the border of needing the NICU and not needing the NICU. So they didn't need it but they were still a little too small to latch properly and so I was pretty much an exclusive pumper for the first 2 months. And that was interesting in itself and later on certainly share my experience with that. So that's my experience with pumping. So ladies, thanks so much for being with us today.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: So before we really get into the heart of today's topic. I want to share with you guys a “Boob Oops”. I love this segment. So this is a great segment where you guys send in your funny stories. Sometimes it's not funny when it's actually happening then it's funny afterwards, right? So these are funny stories about you guys pumping or breastfeeding your babies and just the crazy things that happen.

So this comment comes from Sarah. And Sarah emailed this to us and she says; “I was at work and I was going through my normal routine of pumping and visiting the board. Time was up and I was putting the milk in a bottle for storage and putting up my pump parts all of a sudden I get a huge surprise. The President of the company barges in on me. I have a big colorful sign that says, "Do not disturb on it" but guess what that didn't stop him. Luckily, he didn't see anything because I was finished. He asked me, "why is your door shut?" And I said to him I pump for my baby, he looked confused and say, "What?" So I pointed with both hands to both of my breasts and said, "I pump milk for my baby." His face and bald head turned so red, I don't he know what to say or do because he was so embarrassed. He just turned around and shut the door and he never barge on me again. All I could do is laugh.” So Nayeli I know you talked about pumping at work. You didn't have an office environment but any funny situations at work when you had to pump, anyone walked-in on you?

NAYELI GOMEZ: You know what? It happened but it wasn't as bad, as traumatic. But I think the funniest one was I was moving from place to place. Where I had to move throughout the building from my work area was and where I was pumping. I would transport my full bottles of milk in a cooler bag and they look like a lunch bag. I am walking through the hallway and then all of a sudden a co-worker from another department he is walking right behind me he's like, "Woo, Nayeli, what do you have in there? Some snacks you would like to share?" And then just turned around and looked at him and I'm like, "You have no idea what you would not want me to share this."

SUNNY GAULT: Hey, it's very nutritious though, it's full of lot of anti-bodies, I don't know if he was sick maybe that would help. That's awesome. People don't know what they are getting into. Carefully label your stuff at work if you're pumping at work because some may think that's a little special creamer you've got there. Man, that's good stuff. Thanks so much there for sending this in.
If you guys have a funny “Boob Oops”. We would love to hear it. You can e-mail us then also through our website. You can actually send us a voicemail the coolest thing ever. You don't even have to pick up a phone anymore, all you have to do is click a little button it will use the microphone from your computer and you can send us a voicemail that way.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright so today we are talking about how to find clean, safe spots to pump your breast-milk. And many of these tips, honestly they can apply to breastfeeding moms as well. We don't want to negate breastfeeding moms in this conversation but usually pumping moms are bringing a lot more stuff with them. They may have some additional requirements or amenities that they need. So that's why we're concentrating on pumping moms today. First I wanted to just kind of paint the picture. Maybe for some of you who are planning to pump but aren't actually pumping yet. What pumping moms usually bring with them when they are pumping? Ladies, Priya let's start with you. What do you usually take with you when you went to pump?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Well my most valuable items were my breast-pads and a clean shirt. Can you just imagine travelling? You know you're pumping, you're doing your thing and you have to go back forth. You're travelling to work or might be going to an event or something. But I constantly have to deal with leaking like my engorged breast were constantly leaking and I have to make sure I have ample pads on me and a clean shirt. And I was in so many situations where I was just leaking and you could see like a little mark underneath and it was just so embarrassing. And wipes are the answer to everything for mom. You could use them for anything at all. It was the pads, the clothes, the wipes honestly having a cooler bag on you to keep that milk nice and cool. Obviously it's not refrigerated but so it doesn't be bad and having snacks on hand. I didn't really carry photos of my baby causeway back when. My kids are a little bit older, I think I have pictures in my wallet but I didn't look at them very often. I know that's helpful for some moms with the encouragement aspect of it. And also having all the parts that you need for breast-pumps. Something might break, you might lose something, it might be dirty, you've got to wash it. Just having extra things on hand and of course a big bag that's comfortable to carry because you don't want lugging anything around.

SUNNY GAULT: I've seen now they've got now like pumps so long ago that didn't have any of those stuffs when I was pumping. But they have like the pumping bags now. I've seen actually backpack versions of it. That is so smart.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Why didn't they think of it before?

SUNNY GAULT: I know. Right? Because that stuff can get really heavy and you're already carrying a lot of other stuff too. I think it's kind of genius. The bag is really important and I've also seen for moms that are a little bit more stylish, I have seen more purse type bags where it's really easy to kind of unzip, access the pump part like you were talking about the actual machine where you got to plug stuff into. That could really be helpful too because for my twins when I was pumping for my twins I actually was fortunate enough to get a hospital-grade pump. And that was like a lifesaver because I have used pretty much everything. And so the hospital grade pump was awesome but it was so big and bulky. So when I would take it places I felt like I was taking everything out of my bag and that actually leads into another thing as far as having a table or something like that was really important because I would like spread everything out and it just took a long time, I felt like it was just a lot, it was a lot of carrying around. I totally get that. So Nayeli let's get you involve in this conversation girl. So when you were out and pumping for your baby, we were kind of going over the basic stuff that are more common with there. Was there anything that you brought with you that you found was more helpful than some of the common stuffs that most pumping mommas are going to bring?

NAYELI GOMEZ: Yes, thank you for asking that. One of my favorite items that it was not part of the basics to carry around for pumping was essential oil and I use lavender to kind of get me. I mean you kind of have to get into the mood.

SUNNY GAULT: You kind of have to get into a mood if you're going to pump.

NAYELI GOMEZ: You need to relax, you need to calm down, you're stressed especially when you're doing it at work and it is in the middle of a stressful situation at work. You cannot respond as well to the pump. I used to have a little bit of essential oil, lavender essential oil and just dab it on a little bit close to my face where I could smell it and then spread around all the smell so the room where I was pumping will smell really nice and kind of get into the mood.

SUNNY GAULT: I love that you said that. We've done a couple of episodes on essential oils if you guys want to go back in our library and talk about listen more on essential oils and breastfeeding. And it can have such a calming effect on mom just like you said. And I never honestly I haven't really used essential oils before, I keep on thinking I'm going to do it and then I'm like, "Oh but it's so expensive how am I going to pay for it?" But that's so smart because just the ability to be able to relax, it's so important. Priya was talking about pictures and stuff like that I know a lot of moms bring their iPhone and they scroll through photos because I find it especially... we'll get into this in a second. But the type of environment that you're in, the mood is really important. You're really not going to have a good let-down, you're not going to get the milk-out that you need to get out. Honestly, that's going to impact you later on the day. You'll going to feel more full and you're going to feel like you're going to be able to pump or you'll leak... you know to Priya's point about nursing pads and how important that was to her.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Now that you're saying essential oils, carrying lotion boob lotion on you, because you know you get chaffed, you might get little rips here and there, even especially if you're breastfeeding heavily in between pumping and you going to need lotion so you could feel...

SUNNY GAULT: Right, absolutely. Okay, so let's transition in talking about some of the basic amenities when we think about, "Listen, I'm pumping on the go. What do I really need?" Maybe we can talk about the basic stuff and then some of the stuff in the perfect world we'd have this too. So let's start with the basic stuff. The first thing that I thought off was you need to have a place that's safe. Priya in your mind what does that mean safety for you and was that really important for you when you were pumping for your babies.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Well absolutely, my personal experience beyond MomsPumpHere. I did a lot of my pumping in my office, sometimes I have to pump in my car. That's kind of awkward because people are looking at you, you don't have tinted windows obviously people are going to be looking and you don't want to be pumping while you're driving either cause that's a safety hazard. But even me in a clean, safe spot where it's private and close the door that no strangers staring at you or walking-in, people you don't know. You don't want any of those situation. Talking directly about the app, that all over locations that are submitted by moms to make sure that they're going to places that are commercial locations number 1 and they have everything that they say that they have.

So we'll contact them, we'll call them, we'll look on the internet, we'll look on forums, we'll even do the Google maps, which is actually my first step, I look on Google maps to make sure it's commercial location. Safety's a huge issue because I'm a mom and my business partners are moms. So we started it because we didn't want moms to be uncomfortable and have to go through these bad situations where they have to pump in really nasty places like the bathroom or a car or a closet, wherever. So safety is a huge issue for us because if we didn't want to experience it, we didn't want other moms to go through it as well. It's definitely an important aspect.

SUNNY GAULT: And having to be secure which kind of go along with that and the privacy factor of it. I mean we were hearing it on that “Boob Oops” that poor woman Sarah had a sign on her door that said but it indicated that she was busy doing something that you probably shouldn't come-in I don't know if it said she was pumping. And then her boss still barge-in and some kind of like... It's been awhile since I've been on the corporate world, I don't know if a lot of office doors have like locks on them or if that's a no-no nowadays but privacy is really important.
So Nayeli I kind of asked you this a little earlier but because you didn't have your own office how did you work that with privacy in trying to just kind of keep things as private as you felt comfortable with.

NAYELI GOMEZ: Definitely it's hard at first and like I said the very first day that I had to pump, I did it at a conference room that was not used at the moment and it was supposed to be my area for pumping but the very first day is when someone walked in on me. And it was secure but the person that happened to walk-in to me was the Director of Security, the person that kept the building safe so he had a master-key access to every door.
So that defeated the purpose right away because it was a possibility of there's a one-person walking-in to me. So then our next part was a big bathroom that was not used anyone else but when I started using it people realize that the bathroom was there and they started using it too.
So that didn't work out after a while and I ended up going to an office that was not in use at the time and I had an electronic key and the security department in my building was in charge of arranging the keys electronically so that it could work so they did mine especially just to open that door so that was really nice. And that was how I ended up.

SUNNY GAULT: You've definitely had some experiences there. Okay so let's keep going on our list here. In addition to things being safe, secure and private. They need to be clean, we touch on these every time we talk about pumping in the bathroom and everyone's like, "Eeeeeew." Sometimes that's the only place where you can pump but when we talk about things being clean, sanitary. What comes to mind? Priya, what was important to you as far as where you could pump and how clean things were and how sanitary they were?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Well we definitely don't want moms to pump in bathrooms cause you know when you flush the toilet the fecal matter goes in the air and then it's just really nasty and of course if you're not going to in a bathroom why should you make other women in and out their baby in the bathroom or breastfeed or breast-pump in the bathroom. But having sanitary conditions is so important because you don't know what kind of germs are on the countertops or near around you or in the air. When I was pumping I always had hand sanitizers on me and again the wipes, I always had wipes and wipe down stuff that was like my go to saver for everything and of course if I ever have to pump in a bathroom way back when. I try to cover up as much as possible so nothing would be like... my boobs were covered, the breast-pump was covered kind of like with shoal or scarf or something like that so nothing would be contaminating it in anyway. Having it clean and sanitary is just as important as the privacy and safety aspect of it.

SUNNY GAULT: I'm glad the point about what happen... I know it's kind of a gross topic. As far as flushing the toilet and how that matter gets into the air like we really don't think about it and we think of flushing is being a way to get rid of that kind of stuff but not initially, I'm glad you brought that out. A couple other things that I thought about real quick; good lighting. Who wants to pump in the dark? I can actually think of times I've pumped in the dark like in the middle of the night when my twins were wee wee little tiny and every three hours I have done it but I remember to trying like connect the cords and stuff and "what I really don't even know what I'm doing?" So I thought good lighting is obviously important to be comfortable is really important not always possible but it would be really nice if there were comfortable chair or we talked earlier a little bit about there being a little table or something for you to lay stuff out on just so you can see what you are doing and be as efficient as possible because if it's really difficult for you to get everything out think of how much extra time you’re going to spend doing.

It's really to your benefit and if you're at work your employers benefit to make this as easy as possible so you can be in and out as quickly as possible for it to be quiet and this goes back to our mood. The Zen of needing to pump and just picture your baby or whatever it is that really helps you with that let-down. And then the last thing I was thinking about is the access to electricity and water. So pumps usually have a battery pack or whatever. I will tell you with my hospital pump I didn't even try to do the battery version. It took up so much power that I was just like find me an outlet, I need to have an outlet. It's really heavy to carry around. I loved it and it did what it needed to do and I'm so glad that I have it but it really limits you in your mobility. So electricity I would say and hopefully, you don't have to go fetch for... you know how the plugs are like behind the cabinet or something and you kind of like move all... less thing you want to do is like move a big table or cabinet in order to get to a plug. Then the other thing is water, so water to rinse out your pump parts would be helpful. It's one of those things I think that falls into that amenities list that would be great but the other option honestly is to get multiple parts so you don't have to wash them all over again. Obviously were trying to keep things as sterile and clean as possible so it doesn't result in any kind of infection or whatever for you. Anything else you guys would add to the list or any other comments based on what I said so far about those items?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: No, I think that's it. I think that's the basic general list. I mean there are a lot of places for example that are listed on the app. They have like TV's and curtains and magazines. All the fancy stuff.

SUNNY GAULT: That's on our nice amenities list like in our dream-world this is what we would have. Well you could bring some of that, you could bring magazines and you might even be able to bring some... if you needed some soothing music. Honestly, you could bring some of those stuffs. If that's what you really needed but again you may need some electricity for that.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: If you have your iPad. You could stream like a little movie or something or put on your headphones.

SUNNY GAULT: Or I've heard of moms kind of go along with the pictures of your babies but doing videos of your babies so your babies cooing. Or I've heard of moms actually taking videos of them breastfeeding their babies and watching it. So anyway just a couple of ideas for you guys. When we think about the idea of places to pump, what comes to your mind? And Priya what are people talking about on the app? You mention the commercial spots that you guys aren't going to say, "Hey, go to someone's house." That makes sense, right? But you can't do that. You can certainly pump in someone's house if you know them.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Your own house that's what we are recommending. Your own house or somebody you know.

SUNNY GAULT: But when it comes to other places. If we're out and about and were like what are the big places that we can reach out to. What do you find people entering on in the app as far as common places that are good to pump?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: The most commonly submitted locations are retail stores. So you have your reliable locations like The Baby R Us' and The Bye Bye Baby's and even some small Mom and Pop Shops that offers space for moms breastfeed or breast-pump but the most searched item are airports. They're the most searched item on our app and our database. And we have over 200 in the United States I believe and we have more in other countries so we have listed on the app. But moms are on the go... when you're out in your daily life. Obviously, you are going to work, you might have a place to pump or breastfeed if they allow it at your workplace. But if you're shopping or you're going to a park with your baby. The park may not have a place for you to sit, but there may be a store nearby that you want to find to breast-pump or breastfeed when you're shopping. So that's definitely the most commonplace that people are submitting to the app.

SUNNY GAULT: Alright that sounds good. Anything that you want to add to the list Nayeli as far as places you found were easily accessible especially if you don't know the area that well, because that's the thing. Because if you already know where you are going, you can have your spots picked-out. Anything else that you would add that was helpful for you, Nayeli?

NAYELI GOMEZ: Yes, taking a small manual pump whenever I would go to a place of uncertainty. I would take that too, just in case I did not find electricity available. At least to relieve myself.

SUNNY GAULT: Right, that is really smart. I'm so glad you mentioned that because I've used a manual pumps so after I did I kind of had two opposite experiences with my twins. So I started with the hospital grade pump which was really needed when I was [inaudible] and then after that to tandem breastfeeding my twins but there were times that I really needed to be able to pump and my hospital grade pump was rented. I didn't own that, those things are expensive by the way. I didn't own it. And so it was more about I needed to find another breast pump and I just missed a cutoff for the affordable care act. My babies were like born in November and I didn't kick-in until January of something like that. I missed the cutoff with my medical care provider in getting a breast pump that was covered. But when I talked to the lactation consultant she said that, “What about a manual pump? I can get you a manual pump; I just can't get you an electric one.”

And I'm like, “A manual pump?” I'm just like you know, “I'm doing these for twins do you think I'm just going to pump with a manual pump?” I will tell you that it was the absolute best thing for me because I didn't have to pump all the time. I think that if you needed to pump all the time it wouldn't work. But for me it was mainly, I was trying to pump extra milk so if I needed to go out... I didn't need to have tons in my freezer. I just needed to know that I could be away from my babies for more than 3 hours and it would be okay. So what I was trying to do is like almost middle of the night pumping or right before I went to bed pumping session. So I would just sit down and watch TV or do something relaxing. Obviously unless you've got 2 manual pumps you got to do one side and then do the other. But it worked perfectly for me, so Nayeli I'm glad you mentioned that because I think manual pumps get a bad wrap in-fact we should probably do an episode just on manual pumps.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Because there are interesting stories.
SUNNY GAULT: I know, and see it worked for you. Okay let's take a quick break. When we come back we're going to continue our discussion with a look at some of the not-so-great places moms sometimes have to pump and were also going to have some tips for you to help make the most out of any situation so we'll be right back.

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright, welcome back. So we've been talking about what needs a pumping mom has when she's out and about. And we've talked about some of the best places to pump which worked for us in the past. So what happens if none of those places are available? This could happen a lot if you're brand new to an area or you've just moved or the place where you usually pump is no longer available for whatever reason, you get a brand new job, whatever. And so let's talk about some of these not-so-pleasant places. I know it's been mentioned here and there, we have to point out the elephant in the room ladies, which is the bathroom. We've talked about this a little bit. Who has actually pumped in a bathroom. Nayeli, I think you say you did that the first day, right?

NAYELI GOMEZ: I did that, yeah. That was my second spot to pump. There wasn't a lot of traffic in that bathroom. It was in an isolated area but as I mentioned before once people saw me in and out and they figured there was a bathroom that was big and comfortable and away from everyone else they started using that bathroom. So that's when I say, “No, I'm not going to be using that bathroom anymore.”

SUNNY GAULT: Man, how inconvenient. And bathrooms usually do have plugs, that's kind of... you know probably not in a stall but who really wants to pump right there in a stall right? But I guess if it had an area, some bathrooms do, depending on how big your place of business is. Where tomorrow like a lounge area that would almost be the best place to do it. The problem is those are usually right when you walk through the door. Right? If you do have these lounge areas and then anyone passing by can see, so I don't know maybe if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff, I don't know if you really want your colleagues to kind of see you or whoever if you're in a shopping mall or whatever someone passing by. So maybe wearing a breastfeeding cover, something like that might be helpful just to kind of stay more private if that's something that you really need when you're pumping. Bathrooms; not so fun for the obvious reasons. Cars; Priya did you ever have to pump in your car?

PRIYA NEMBHARD: Yeah, multiple times.

SUNNY GAULT: Tell me, momma, tell me about your pumping in the car experience.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: First I have to say my memories a little shot. Three kids later, fourteen years later but the emotions are there. You never forget how you feel when you have to sit in a car, parked car, whipped it out and do your pumping and then especially if you're going into a meeting and then you have to make sure you are cleaned up, nothing spilled, everything site, safely put away afterwards. Do you leave it in the car? Do you drag it with you? It’s hot outside. Is it refrigerated? It's freezing. There are all these things that are going to your mind. Is somebody staring at me? You have to like duck down a little bit from the window so nobody staring at you pumping in the car. Of course back then, all these great innovative gadgets and clothing the mom can use now to wrap their pumping parts but back then they didn't have that. They just have to slip it in underneath your shirt and pump in stuff. It was so uncomfortable and then you're worried about people looking at you. So that's why we created our apps so moms didn't have to do that. They don’t have to pump in the car.

SUNNY GAULT: Exactly and it really want to work. Actually nowadays, maybe some cars have an electrical source. In my hospital grade pump situation I just got a new car and I don't think that unless I get some sort of adaptor or something I still don't think... I don't have a regular plug outlet in my car, unless there's some sort of converter like we have those for our cell phones and stuff. How it can still charge it? That would be obviously an issue? You mentioned clothing, I'm so glad you did because there are. There's tons of great clothing out there now that can hide whatever your sensitive about. I know some women it's lifting up their shirt and seeing like the side shot. If you look your side and your back or pulling it down from the top and you want to be discreet with that. Yeah, it's kind of really tough to kind of cover up in the car. Did you ever try to kind of shades and stuff? Did you ever try to do anything like that? Or is it more just kind of covering up you as supposed to making the whole car.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: I was merely just ducking, I did a lot of ducking or like you put the chair back all the way back.

SUNNY GAULT: Like why is she sleeping in that car? She's a mom, she's tired, and she’s taking a nap. Sometimes it's okay to take things like that; sometimes I like the idea right? Another thing I have on the list so we talked about bathrooms and cars, closets? What I was thinking about with this is more of a working environment where they don't have a fully-fledged office area or whatever. You can't do it on your own office or you're sharing office. And it's more... I heard stories from moms having to pump in kind of work-related closets. And my first thought there is A.) It kind of goes back to my point of where's the outlet and evidently be behind something that's big and heavy that you're going to have to move or the lighting. Sometimes closets aren't lit that well which just doesn't makes a lot of sense because closets stores stuff and you were unable to see what's being stored but a lot of times they are not lit that well. Or again you've got the whole issue of people coming in. They're coming in to get some pencils and there you are with these machines attached to you. Any other spots you guys can think of that not so great that you've heard about. Priya any mentions on the apps.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: There was one spot that we actually vetted and it's live on the app. It's a Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It's a Juvenile Detention Center so I guess it's for visitors, moms are coming by obviously you have to go through security and do all that stuff. The place that they have available for moms is clean, it's private, there's a chair, there's a sink which you hardly get. A countertop and storage place that you put breast pumps and they are very nursing friendly I guess for the girls that are going to the Juvenile Detention Center. But some moms actually submitted it and we called them and we verified it and it was all good. And I have to say, of course, you get the little creepy places that we have to delete right away but this place was legit and we keep it on it.

SUNNY GAULT: It's funny. It was just like last night that I did this but The Boob Group we have our own Facebook page and so I posted something on The Boob Group and my comment was, "Oh gosh" actually there's a couple more posts you guys this is funny just read this real quick. I've said, "What's the strangest places you've ever pump for you baby? And how you make the most out of the situation?
So let me read some of this here. So Claire Clouts wrote; "At the top of The Empire State Building." I'm like having pictures their like, what's that Seattle movie... "Sleepless in Seattle." Am I saying the right movie? That's the right movie, I was thinking of Seattle... Empire State but it was. It was like meeting in The Empire State Building, right? So she says. "At the top of The Empire State Building, I was away from her. (I'm assuming her was her baby) And she's just trying to make her milk going." And then Dina Spearow writes, "In the car driving down the highway, husband driving me in the passenger seat. Four boys in the back, heading to Texas. I didn't want to take 30 minutes every 2 to 3 hours to stop and pump in an 18 hour drive. (I totally get that) She must have a pump with a battery. It is a long drive.

Work Sunshine Cheeks says, "In an out drive through line." You guys have in and outs? It's like a burger joint, it's exactly here at the West Coast. She says, "In and out multi-tasking on a busy day at work." And Lindsay Wheeler wrote, "In the back of the car, smashed between 2 car seats with my husband and mother-in-law on the front. Driving over the border into Germany." "Ow Holy Cow" She said, "I had to use the car seats cup holders and I forgot the AC Adaptor but had batteries for the ride." Thank goodness. "The windows were not very tinted to Priya's point and she was trying to maneuver behind the nursing cover and she says, they need to make the things spill proof so when you're connected. She says, the crank shame to lose even a drop." I'm totally with you on that. Amanda says, "In the teacher's bathroom at the school." Because it's true where do you going to go like in the kid's bathroom that would be even worse.

PRIYA NEMBHARD: There should be a lounge in school, right? A teachers lounge.

SUNNY GAULT: There should be a lounge. And Daniel's says the same. She's done the same. So in a teacher’s bathroom. This is interesting, April King says, "while getting chemo. She says, I would just roll my IV pole into a private room and pump away at the infusion center." Oh my goodness, wow. April, props to you momma. That is some serious commitment. A lot of comments about driving in the car which I totally get. But don't do that while you're driving. Make sure you’re like in the passenger seat or something. Just disclaimer word for the lies on that.

Ladies, going to wrap up the conversation had been so fun chatting with you guys. I really appreciate for you guys being part of our conversation today. Also for all of you guys who are listening, we appreciate you guys. And I would love to get some feedback on what you think of the new format and us chat with other breastfeeding moms. Be sure if you're part of our Boob Group Club which is our membership club. Be sure to check out the bonus content for this episode because we're going to discuss steps you can take to encourage the creation of a safe and clean pumping spot in a specific area. So if there's one not there, "Hey, this is going to be a good spot" What can you do?

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright, so we have a question from one of our listeners for one of our breastfeeding experts. This comes from Michelle. Michelle writes; "Hi, I am breastfeeding my 9-month-old son and I feel like we've established a rhythm after struggling with over supply and over active let-down and silent reflects caused by those issues. My supplies doing well and I've actually started donating to a friend who relies on donor milk for her little girl. I would like to give her as much as I can but when I pump I'm only getting about 2 ounces at a time. Is there a way to help me make more milk without going back into oversupply territory or such as pump pump pump. Thanks much."

DAWN KERSULA: This is Dawn Kersula, I'm the IBCLC at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Brattleboro Vermont. You've proven that you can make plenty of milk and the challenge now is working to make more for your friend’s baby. It's going to be the staying balance and also to keep your baby in your body happy and safe together. My suggestion would be that you not go to [inaudible] apparently because some of those would go to your milk and also partly because I don't think that you want to set yourself into hyper-lactation. So what I would suggest is that you're on the right track. You want to stay with pumping rather than using the [inaudible].

And what I would do because you really had such a problem with too much milk in the past is I would set yourself some interval goal and maybe even just set yourself a couple of times a day when you’re at work and making more milk for that baby. What I would suggest is set to yourself a month or 6 weeks down the road I will be making this much milk every day for that other baby but this week what I'm going to work out is this.
So you're already at 2 ounces maybe next say you would say I like to be able to give her 3 ounces a day. And the other thing is to think about, do you want to make milk for twins? Do you like to set yourself back into a hyper-lactation situation, because I like the fact that you've been able to get yourself into a state of balance?

That's a hard place to go sometimes. When you've been making too much milk and you have problems with the baby who've been fairly miserable on and you don't want to get yourself back into that clot ducks status. So I guess I would suggest that you set some in goals, do some pumping and I also want to just mention that I know someone who's had some problem with too much milk can really appreciate that a problem that can be to get yourself back on a more even [inaudible]. So enjoy your own baby, do some extra pumping as you see fit and thank you for your good question and this opportunity to talk about being abundant with their own milk supplies.

SUNNY GAULT: That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to The Boob Group.
Don’t forget to check out our sister show:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• Newbies for newly postpartum moms
• Parent Savers for moms and dads with infants and toddlers and
• Twin Talks for parents with multiples.

Thanks for listening to The Boob Group. Your judgment-free breastfeeding resource.

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. The information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line-up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series, or if you’re a business, or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com.

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