In New York City, a woman cop says her superiors won’t allow her to breast pump at work, which is like forcing her to endure 10,000 tiny daggers stabbing her from inside her boob while starving her child and saying, “just deal with it.”
According to the New York Daily News, the 30-year-old police officer gave birth to her daughter in November and has been struggling to squeeze in time at work ever since. “It was basically, ‘Sorry, but there’s nobody to relieve you — figure it out,’” she said. “It was not an isolated thing.”
Since returning to work in February, she says she’s often been told that her coworkers can’t cover for her absence while pumping, so she can’t pump.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association is going to bat for the officer; they sent the NYPD a letter with the reminder that “state labor law requires employers to give their workers at least 20 to 30 minutes to pump breast milk for up to three years after a child is born.”
The officer, who’s been put on desk duty but will return to her patrol soon, hopes speaking out will push the department to support other working moms so they can continue to breastfeed without switching to formula because their schedules wouldn’t allow anything else. She say she doesn’t “think a job should dictate how you want to feed your child. That’s ridiculous.” She’s not wrong.
A NYPD spokesperson said they’re committed to “permitting nursing mothers to express breast milk.” Like everything else in the world, if men had to pump their balls every three or four hours, we’re pretty sure this wouldn’t be an issue.
