“The toilet was the only private space I could use,” said breastfeeding mother

MM, an Emirati, said because of a lack of dedicated facilities she had no choice but to express in the workplace toilet.

ABU DHABI // One mother says a room in the workplace where women can express milk is crucial for those returning after giving birth.

M M, who works at a government agency, found it difficult to pump because of the lack of facilities and often expressed milk in unhygienic toilets.

“The first few weeks were extremely uncomfortable and painful,” said the 27-year-old. “I was constantly engorged and in pain.”

The Emirati mother would find herself pumping milk once a day in the toilets when the pain became unbearable.

“The toilet was the only private space I could use. This meant that I couldn’t use the milk to feed my baby because I pumped in an unsanitary room, so I just threw out the milk I pumped at work.

“By the time I came home, I was engorged again and this makes it extremely difficult for my baby to latch on.

“I would then spend the evening feeding and pumping enough milk for my baby to have while I’m away at work the next day.”

But M M said that she had to include formula for her baby – something she had always been against – after her milk supply decreased.

“Overtime, my milk supply decreased due to my pumping difficulties at work and I felt that I had no choice but to use formula milk,” she said. “My goal to exclusively breastfeed proved to be unattainable.

“I felt so guilty for not being able to keep up my supply so that I can exclusively breastfeed.

“I envied stay-at-home mums because they get to breastfeed.”

She said she even considered leaving her job so she could feed her baby the natural way.

“I was completely against formula milk all throughout my pregnancy and during my maternity leave,” she said.

“But after returning to work I had no choice.”