{"id":5633,"date":"2017-08-15T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/?p=5633"},"modified":"2017-12-22T11:19:19","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T16:19:19","slug":"practical-guide-pumping-national-conferences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/2017\/08\/15\/practical-guide-pumping-national-conferences\/","title":{"rendered":"A Practical Guide to Pumping at National Conferences"},"content":{"rendered":"
This year at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) meeting, Dr Nikita Joshi spoke about gender representation at national Emergency Medicine conferences. Her research team found that women represented less than 30% of all speakers and 24% of all session moderators. This had me thinking. What are some of the barriers for women speaking at these conferences? One would surmise that there are many external factors at play, but maybe there are some lingering internal ones too. As a junior faculty and medical education fellow, I have been walking the fine line of trying to find my way in the academic world, while at the same time trying to start a family. I had my youngest daughter half way through fellowship and it certainly has been a struggle trying to navigate the national conference circuit while trying to pump. Let\u2019s just say it has been a journey.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the mere thought of trying to travel and pump made me question if I should even attend the conference. Ultimately, I attended three national conferences, one regional conference and the oral boards for Emergency Medicine in Chicago. Living in Seattle, this meant a lot of long haul flights and advanced planning for my daughter who was only three months old when I left for my first trip. Along the way, I have learned a thing or two about pumping and attending conferences. I wanted to share these pearls so that this issue alone, isn\u2019t a barrier for young aspiring academicians.<\/p>\n
Pearl 1 – Let them know you are coming!<\/strong><\/p>\n When you register for your conference, if there is an area for \u201cspecial requests\u201d let them know you are pumping and will need access to the lactation room. I realize that for many of us breastfeeding may be a right and\/or honor (and let\u2019s be honest sometimes feels like a burden), however, there are some national conferences that require you to list this as a \u201cdisability\u201d in advance. I know what you are thinking. I am thinking the same thing too and trust me, I have gently explained my thoughts on this issue. If you are unsure, contact one of the conference coordinators about access to lactation rooms. If you are taking your EM oral boards, you absolutely need to let them know in advance. I will have to say that ABEM had a pretty sweet lactation room set up. Well done!<\/p>\n Pearl 2 – Navigating the airport<\/strong><\/p>\n Flying and pumping is tricky. Give yourself extra time at the airport to get through TSA. If you are carrying breast-milk on, the milk itself is exempt from the 3-1-1 rule. However, just remember, they will want to individually scan every\u2026 single\u2026 bag\u2026 that has more than 3oz in it. This takes a while. As far as preparing for your flight, I recommend pumping right before you get on the plane and immediately afterwards. Bathrooms are bad enough to pump in, but airplane bathrooms are worse. Lucky for us, many airports are now installing private pumping \/ breastfeeding pods. Genius. Find out more about the Mamava pods here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pearl 3 – Breast milk bags double as ice packs. <\/strong><\/p>\n Turns out the TSA gets very testy when you bring a reusable ice pack that is partially defrosted. I have tried to explain to them that if I am in a conference all day and am headed to the airport afterwards, melting is a natural event. Well, they don\u2019t seem to like it because it is a closed system preventing them from being able to access the liquids for testing. My solution? Leave the reusable ice pack at home, take some extra empty breastmilk bags and fill them with ice. I fill them with ice at the hotel. It keeps everything cold and if they are slightly melted, it lets the TSA test away!<\/p>\n