Providing breast milk for their babies can be a special challenge for mothers who are returning to work, but some advance planning can ease the transition.

San Francisco ? Returning to work after maternity leave can be a shock to the system, especially for women who breastfeed and need to pump milk while on the job.

The intimate, unhurried nursing sessions that they shared with their babies are often replaced by the mechanical drone of a breast pump — and a mad dash to squeeze in enough evenly spaced breaks throughout the workday to maintain their milk supply. Some women face the additional challenge of finding a private, secure place — that isn’t a bathroom — to express milk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for the first six months, with some additional nursing as solid food is introduced and continuing at least for the baby’s first year. Breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of many ailments including ear and respiratory infections, diabetes and sudden infant death syndrome for babies and a lower risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer for mothers.

Few women describe pumping milk as fun, but there are ways to protect the financial and emotional investment so moms and babies can get the maximum health benefits from breastfeeding for as long as possible, experts say. Read previous Vital Signs on why pumping at work still carries costs.

It helps to start planning ahead while you’re still pregnant, said Cathy Carothers, co-director of Every Mother Inc., a Greenville, Miss.-based nonprofit that trains health-care providers how to support breastfeeding mothers.

“The first thing I would tell a mother is to take the longest maternity leave she can,” Carothers said. “That time with the baby is just irreplaceable, and it’s a great time to get things going.”

Among the steps new mothers can take:

1. Minimize separation from the baby.

It typically takes six to eight weeks to establish good milk production, Carothers said. A year of leave would be ideal, she said, but the more likely scenario of 12 to 16 weeks still would be “preferable” to shorter maternity leaves. Returning to work part-time for a while or starting back midweek also can help ease the transition. Women with access to on-site or nearby child care may be able to breastfeed on their lunch breaks. Some employers, especially small businesses, allow new moms to bring their babies to work. Don’t discount this possibility while an infant is less than six months old, Carothers said.

2. Rent or buy a pump that fits your body and your needs.

Practice with it before returning to work. Any milk you can store in the freezer gives you a head start and protection from unforeseen problems. Double electric pumps can be expensive, and while most health insurers don’t cover the cost unless the infant has a medical condition, it pays to check with your employer and health plan to see if either offers a discount on the purchase because of the health benefits breast milk confers. Even if pumps aren’t covered, you may get a break on other costs. Some employers offer free access to a lactation consultant to troubleshoot problems. Health insurer Cigna, for example, offers a comprehensive lactation support program called Cigna Moms to its employees, 75 percent of whom are women.

3. Identify a suitable place to pump milk and enlist your supervisor’s support.

“Part of it is having the space, but part of it is having the guts to talk to your boss,” said Chris Mulford, Swarthmore, Pa.-based chair of the workplace support committee for the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. Women are wise to explain to their supervisors the potential for breastfeeding to result in lower health-care costs and less absenteeism due to illness. When their babies are a few months old, mothers generally need to be able to express milk two or three times during an eight-hour period, Carothers said. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes plus time to get to the room. In a publication called “The Business Case for Breastfeeding,” the U.S .Department of Health and Human Services provides a sample letter women can use to start the conversation about pumping at work. See the letter. http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/programs/business-case/employees-guide.pdf

4. Set a realistic pumping goal and accept the sometimes awkward business of taking care of bodily needs at work.

“There are a lot of hurdles, and to face all those you have to set up your own convictions and decide what’s important to you,” said Cate Colburn-Smith, co-author of “The Milk Memos,” a book that grew out of a community of pumping moms who worked for IBM. Once she decided to give her daughter breast milk for the first year, the risk of being “mommy-tracked” was worth it, she said. “We all need to work together to remove the stigma, to normalize getting human milk to human babies,” Colburn-Smith said. “The more of us who can say ‘This is part of my life, this is what I’m doing and I’m going to do it at work or at the mall or whatever,’ together we can help push for a change.”

5. Add the pumping sessions you intend to do to your daily calendar.

Schedule and attend them like any other meeting.

6. Adjust your workload at home.

Ask a family member to pitch in by doing the cleaning, bill-paying or cooking, or hire help if you can, Mulford said. “If (a woman is) working and breastfeeding, she’s doing two jobs already,” she said. “If she sees earning money and caring for baby and breastfeeding as priorities, other things have to become lesser priorities for a while.”

7. Bring items that remind you of your baby.

Photos or an article of clothing can help you focus on why you’re doing this and may increase your output as well. Stephanie Reck of Greensboro, N.C., said she used to call the babysitter to hear how her son’s day was going. Checking in aided her pumping sessions, which she conducted in an unused bathroom. “I had decorated the restroom with pictures of my little man,” Reck said. “It makes a big difference.”

8. Connect with other new moms for guidance on the technical and emotional aspects of pumping.

Camaraderie is especially important for first-time moms who may feel alone and ambivalent about returning to work, Colburn-Smith said. “I started off thinking I needed the logistics more than the companionship. I recognized that I needed both.”

9. Consider getting outside help if you need it.

You can find a local lactation consultant by visiting the International Lactation Consultant Association’s online directory. See the site. http://www.ilca.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid3337 La Leche League International also offers a variety of forums and peer support, both online and in person. See the site. http://www.llli.org/

10. Give yourself permission to quit pumping if it isn’t working after a period of time.

As a lactation consultant, Carothers said her job isn’t to tell a mother when to breastfeed and when to quit. “My job is to help her meet her goals,” she said. “If she feels it’s overwhelming and she can’t handle this, I’m going to tell her what a fabulous mom she was to give her baby breast milk. That is a lucky baby. Any amount of breast milk is a good amount.”