--- title: Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right With Breastfeeding description: Despite all that data, the U.S. has consistently lagged behind most high-income countries on both breastfeeding rates and related policies canonical: https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/ author: Susanna Schrobsdorff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-12T10:16:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:18.565Z article:section: Ideas og:title: When It Comes to Breastfeeding, This Is Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right og:description: "We're overwhelmed and paralyzed by the debates about what's best" og:url: https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7e32c4c390a995b/6989352d97cdffeb016b5b7c/breastfeeding-united-states-world-health-assembly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Breastfeeding debate in United States og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When It Comes to Breastfeeding, This Is Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right twitter:description: "We're overwhelmed and paralyzed by the debates about what's best" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7e32c4c390a995b/6989352d97cdffeb016b5b7c/breastfeeding-united-states-world-health-assembly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:24 video:published: 2017-07-27 section: personal-finance topics: maternity leave, returning to work, working mothers, morning routine, childcare, breastfeeding, pumping at work, rest and self-care, work-life transition genre: explainer, tips tones: supportive, practical, encouraging, reassuring emotions: empathy (medium), reassurance (medium), stress (low) sentiment: neutral audience: new mothers, expecting parents, working parents, employers and HR professionals organizations: GEICO, TIME, MONEY content_suitability: health controversy [00:34-00:49] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # When It Comes to Breastfeeding, This Is Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fe81cb9f-8337-45fe-809d-7058a70fa333&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 4 Tips For Returning to Work After Maternity Leave MONEY [Watch (HLS stream): 4 Tips For Returning to Work After Maternity Leave MONEY](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0zVhbGXU.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2017-07-27. Returning to work after a maternity leave can be difficult. Here are four tips to make your transition back a little easier._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video offers four practical tips for mothers returning to work after maternity leave. It covers testing the morning routine in advance, arranging for the childcare provider to start early, managing breastfeeding and pumping at work, and easing back in while prioritizing rest. The content is presented as part of the 'Life Well Spent' series sponsored by GEICO. ## Key points - Test run your morning routine before your first day back at the office, since getting organized with a new baby may take longer. (00:15) - If childcare is arranged, invite the childcare provider to take part in the morning run-through. (00:21) - Have the child care provider start at least one week before the planned return to work so the mother can see what the mornings will involve. (00:27) - Try to freeze as much breast milk as possible before returning to the job. (00:37) - Most mothers need two to three 15-20 minute breaks a day for pumping. (00:45) - Find a private location to pump, such as a private conference room or empty office. (00:49) - Ease into the first week back and do not feel pressure to perfect the old schedule immediately. (00:56) - Getting as much rest as possible is important, so chores should be pushed aside during this stage. (01:04) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:15] Introduction to returning after maternity leave. The video introduces the difficulty of returning to work after maternity leave and previews four tips. - [00:15 to 00:31] Practice the morning routine and childcare handoff. The speaker advises a test run of the morning routine and an early start for the childcare provider. - [00:31 to 00:52] Managing breastfeeding and pumping at work. Tips cover freezing milk, discussing a pumping schedule with the boss, and finding a private pumping space. - [00:52 to 01:24] Easing in and prioritizing rest. The speaker recommends a gradual first week and getting as much rest as possible while doing two jobs. ## Key quotes - [00:05] narrator: "Returning to work after a maternity leave can be difficult." - [00:58] narrator: "Remember, you just had a kid." - [01:06] narrator: "doing two jobs will be exhausting." - [01:16] narrator: "Right now it's time to get some rest." ## Questions this video answers - How can a mother prepare her morning routine before returning to work after maternity leave? [00:15] - When should childcare providers start before a mother's planned return to work? [00:27] - How can a working mother manage breastfeeding and pumping at work? [00:34] - How many pumping breaks do most mothers need each day? [00:45] - Where can a mother find a private place to pump at work? [00:49] - Why is getting rest important when returning to work with a newborn? [01:06] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:34-00:49]: Discusses breastfeeding and pumping logistics, a sensitive health-related topic, in practical terms without controversy.  by [Susanna Schrobsdorff](https://time.com/author/susanna-schrobsdorff/)  ## Susanna Schrobsdorff Jul 12, 2018 10:16 AM UTC  Getty Images  by [Susanna Schrobsdorff](https://time.com/author/susanna-schrobsdorff/)  ## Susanna Schrobsdorff Jul 12, 2018 10:16 AM UTC There may be nobody as vulnerable to manipulation as a mother worried about her child’s health. The question of whether we’re doing right by our kids cuts straight to the maternal heart. The problem is that in this age of marketing vs. activism, we’re overwhelmed and paralyzed by the debates about what’s best. It’s not surprising, then, that there was an uproar when [the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html) reported on July 8 that the Trump Administration had tried to dilute a resolution at the World Health Assembly this spring that called on all nations to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding.” The effort failed, but the U.S. delegation was accused of favoring the interests of formula companies over the health of children when it objected to that seemingly mild language as well as restrictions on marketing breast-milk substitutes to mothers. As we’ve seen in the debates over abortion or plastic surgery or pregnancy nutrition, everyone has an opinion about what women should and should not do with their bodies — even if they don’t inhabit a female body themselves. And that is especially true when there’s a $45 billion global business like infant formula at stake. Standing in opposition to that revenue number are the health advocates who have fought for decades to increase breastfeeding everywhere and decrease misleading infant-formula marketing practices, particularly where lack of access to uncontaminated water can make using powdered formula life-threatening. Experts point out that the overwhelming evidence of the health benefits linked to nursing — a lower risk for asthma, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and ear and respiratory infections — extend to all countries. Despite all that data, the U.S. has consistently lagged behind most high-income countries on both breastfeeding rates (only about half of American women are still breastfeeding at six months, as is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics) and the policies that help increase them, like paid maternity leave. The current Administration’s move in some ways echoes 1981, when the U.S. was the only dissenting vote with 118 countries in favor of adopting rules that would prevent formula companies from giving away their products to new mothers and targeting them with aggressive marketing practices; World Health Organization experts believed these methods were linked to a dramatic increase in mortality, malnutrition and diarrhea in very young infants in developing nations. President Trump responded by pointing out that his Administration is not anti-breastfeeding but in favor of giving women more choice — an exquisitely Trumpian way of co-opting the left’s script. Caitlin Oakley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, added in a statement that women who can’t breastfeed should not be “stigmatized,” but rather “equally supplied with information.” Many American women agree, saying the cultural mandate to breastfeed no matter their personal circumstances and zealous hospital lactation programs is another example of how women’s bodies are not their own to manage. It’s true that the experts don’t mince words. Dr. Colleen A. Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has said that “the decision to breastfeed is not a lifestyle choice, it’s a critical decision for infant welfare.” And part of the World Health Organization’s recommendations on marketing is to have the formula products carry messages about the “risks of not breastfeeding.” This is where the conflict lies. Who has the authority to say when a lack of benefit is dangerous? It’s one thing to hear that breastfeeding gives your baby a slew of health rewards and a different thing to hear that formula feeding could be risky. These decisions are made more fraught by hypertargeted digital marketing about nursing and all the other hot debates — whether to vaccinate a child or not, to medicate them for ADHD and the many other questions for which there is no one answer. And so mothers try to filter out the flotsam and the hype, always knowing that someone will think they’re wrong — and that needing to choose is the one thing we don’t have a choice about. _With reporting by Alexandra Sifferlin/New York and Naina Bajekal/London_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/"},"headline":"When It Comes to Breastfeeding, This Is Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right","datePublished":"2018-07-12T10:16:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:18.565Z","description":"'We're overwhelmed and paralyzed by the debates about what's best'","url":"https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/","keywords":["breastfeeding","Milk","WHO","Trump Administration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7e32c4c390a995b/6989352d97cdffeb016b5b7c/breastfeeding-united-states-world-health-assembly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Susanna Schrobsdorff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/susanna-schrobsdorff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7e32c4c390a995b/6989352d97cdffeb016b5b7c/breastfeeding-united-states-world-health-assembly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Breastfeeding debate in United States","caption":"Breastfeeding debate in United States","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/breastfeeding/","name":"breastfeeding"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5336617/breastfeeding-debate/","name":"When It Comes to Breastfeeding, This Is Why Women Never Feel Like They’re Right"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"4 Tips For Returning to Work After Maternity Leave MONEY","description":"Returning to work after a maternity leave can be difficult. 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