Would you love to pump your milk at work, but don't know how to raise the subject with your manager? Do you worry about how your co-workers would react to breast milk in the office refrigerator? If you have always wondered how you might continue to breastfeed when you go back to work, read on.

An increasing number of women are refusing to accept that the end of maternity leave means an end to breastfeeding. And the good news is that these mothers work in all sectors of the economy, in a variety of challenging jobs. They have one thing in common: They refuse to let their careers get in the way of their decision to carry on breastfeeding.

For women who breastfeed, returning to work can be an enormous psychological hurdle. Many mothers choose to wean their babies onto formula at this time, either because they believe it is their only option, or because they don't know how to go about expressing milk in the workplace.

But the decision to slow down or stop milk production can be a hard one. If you believe that breastfeeding is right for your baby, it is often painful and upsetting to switch to infant formula, especially if your baby does not take well either to the bottle or the strange milk. Expressing your milk at work ensures that your strong physical bond with your baby can carry on for as long as you want it to, and that your child can continue to benefit from the benefits of breast milk.

Mothers who work and who express their milk have a number of different approaches. Some pump during the day and breastfeed at home; others go to their baby's caregiver to nurse during the lunch hour and rely on formula at other times. But all have overcome the problems of helping their managers and co-workers to see them as a productive employee as well as a nursing mother.

Women from a variety of unlikely occupations have succeeded in pumping their milk in the workplace.

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