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Human Parts

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Breastfeeding Shouldn’t Be This Hard

7 min readJun 28, 2019

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Photo: FatCamera/Getty Images

TThree months after my second child was born, I was scheduled to attend an academic conference. This conference did not require me to travel out of state, but I did have to leave my baby for upward of eight hours, during which time I would have few opportunities or spaces to pump my breast milk.

The night before the conference, I organized and inventoried everything I would need. I had my work bag and laptop, plus a second bag with my breast pump, electric cords, and tubing; a hands-free pumping bra; empty bottles to pump into; and ice packs and a mini-cooler bag to keep the milk cold. I looked like an overzealous holiday shopper, not a professional going across town to a meeting.

When I arrived at the conference, I looked at the hotel map to locate the room designated for lactation. When I couldn’t find it, I asked a hotel employee for assistance. I explained I was attending the conference and my program stated there would be a lactation room. The bewildered young man repeated, “Lactation space. Hmm.” He apologized for not being able to help. I kept looking.

My colleagues filed in, one after the…

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Human Parts
Human Parts
Katie Acosta
Katie Acosta

Written by Katie Acosta

I am a queer, woman of color, scholar-activist. writing about parenting, loving, forgiving and struggle