‘A real lack of empathy’: women’s experiences of expressing milk at work
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From showers to unlocked rooms, types of spaces offered to mothers wanting to express have been a source of dismay. An employment judge has ruled that a healthcare worker suffered “harassment related to sex” after a suitable private space for her to express breast milk was not provided to her by an NHS health board.
![[Rachel Obordo]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Rachel_Obordo,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Robyn Gibbins told an employment tribunal that she was not given a room that she could lock and felt let down by the trust in Cardiff. A trust spokesperson said the Cardiff and Vale university health board was committed to ensuring all colleagues are treated respectfully, with dignity and without discrimination or prejudice.
Dozens of mothers shared their own experiences of expressing milk at work with the Guardian. About half of the women felt that they did not have adequate facilities in their workplace and of those many felt embarrassed to ask for a suitable room. Those who were provided with one said the standards were sometimes poor, with spaces ranging from a shower cubicle to an office with a leaking roof. Others feared being walked in on, with some women giving up expressing altogether and were “reduced to tears” at not being able to breastfeed their babies for longer.
However, others said they felt very well supported by their employers. Here are three stories from women with differing experiences of expressing milk in the workplace and how they feel about the facilities available to them. I work in a big office and when I returned to work last January I assumed there would be somewhere for me to express. I hoped I would be able to store the milk and take it home for my daughter but when I found I could only do it in a toilet I decided to ‘pump and dump’ instead. A year on and I’m still doing this.
