The Hassles of Traveling with Breast Milk (And Why More Companies Should Be Looking Out for Their Employees)

As a country, we tend to ask a lot of new moms returning to the workforce. Unlike the rest of the world, we ask them to take their maternity leave unpaid—so they have to spend their pregnancy calculating how long they can afford to go without a paycheck.

Then, we ask them to return to work sooner than any other working mothers in the world and well before their babies are eating solid food. On top of that, they must find reliable, quality childcare so that their babies are cared for while they return to their careers.

In most cases, we also ask them to spend a substantial chunk of their income on those childcare options. According to a recent Care.com report, 1 in 3 families spends 20 percent or more of their household income on childcaree.

The point is, moms returning to work after maternity leave already have a lot on their shoulders when they walk back through those doors. These are employees that you’ve invested time (and money) to hire, train, grow and find their groove. And, of course, you want them to stay!

So making their return as seamless as possible is not only great for them, but also good for your company. Especially for those high-value employees who have to travel for work.

For breastfeeding moms, traveling with breast milk can be a huge hassle. They have to be resourceful and find ways to discreetly maintain their pumping schedule, to freeze and store their milk while on-the-go, and to somehow get it back home to their babes.

None of this is easy for a new mom to accomplish on her own. It takes lots of planning, time and perseverance. Even with all the hassles, moms do it because they consider feeding their babies breast milk to be one of their top priorities.

Whether it is a training session, a conference or a big meeting with clients in another state, sending employees away from their home base is expensive.

Whatever the reason, if you’re investing in sending an employee out of town, you want them to be on their A-game. And, worrying about the logistics of traveling with breast milk can quickly knock even the most reliable of employees off that A-game.

So the question becomes: Do you want your employees to be stressed and distracted by the hassles of traveling with breast milk? Or, do you want them to know that you’ve got their backs so that they can focus on the topics at hand as they travel on the company dime?

Hopefully, you answered the latter.

Supporting your employees in their commitment to breastfeed can make all the difference in the world to them. By providing Milk Stork as an employee benefit to employees, you will help eliminate the logistical nightmare of traveling with breast milk.

Between us, the vast majority of your employees will never need this service, which is why the cost is ultimately negligible to you and your organization. But when you consider its value to the employees who do need it? And, how providing this benefit could help to keep those employees performing at their absolute best when returning to work?

Well, you can’t buy that kind of loyalty. Not to mention the boost in productivity it can provide to your bottom line.

So, what are you waiting for?