Motherhood by the Numbers

https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/21/opinion-consider-motherhood-by-the-numbers/

15: Number of minutes that my boss talks during an impromptu meeting as I obsessively check the time, knowing that this is my only free twenty minutes to pump today. 

5: The number of times my daughter woke me up crying last night, needing to be fed. 

3: The number of students I had to hear complain about being tired because they stayed up too late playing video games. 

10: The number of ounces of extra milk that my daycare told me I needed to pump because my daughter is hungry. 

1: The number of hours a day that I would need to pump in order to actually produce the amount of milk my daughter needs. The law requires time and space to be given to nursing mothers to pump, however it does not require a reduction in responsibilities for mothers, leaving us to calculate the impossible math of how to fit in time for pumping while completing all of our normal duties. 

30 minutes: The amount of time I actually have to pump on my lunch break. Will my co-workers notice if I use a hands-free pump in a staff meeting? What if I sit close to a fan to drown out the noise? Will my high school students notice if I wear a big sweater?

500: The number of extra calories a day that is recommended for breastfeeding mothers to consume. 

5: The number of uncomfortable looks I get from male colleagues when talking about breastfeeding and pumping. 

75: The percentage of my salary that goes toward childcare as a full time working woman with a masters degree. 

67: The number of minutes I sat in a school board meeting, broadcast on live TV, unknowingly wearing fairy wings after playing dress-up with my three-year-old. 

2: The number of complaints I had to file with HR because of inappropriate comments by male colleagues about my pregnancy. No, John, you cannot touch my belly when I am four months pregnant, nine months pregnant or ever. What would you say if someone asked you that? Yes, Greg, I am still able to do my job effectively and professionally even though my hormones are changing. 

4: The number of times a day I check to see if I’ve leaked through my shirt, praying to God that a high school boy doesn’t notice before I do. 

3: The number of unpaid sick days I had to take last year because I didn’t have any sick time left after maternity leave. 

9: The number of days of bonding I lost with my newborn because I left work early due to excruciating pain during pregnancy. 

80: The percentage of women who experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and are generally expected to work through it. 

60: The percentage of my pregnancy I was in debilitating pain while having to put on a smiling face and continue to work. “You seem off today”, he says. Oh me? I am just carrying around a watermelon that is digging so far into my ribcage that it feels like someone is stabbing me with a rusty butter knife. But don’t worry about me, please keep mansplaining that concept to me 25 minutes after our meeting was scheduled to end.

0: The number of doctors, midwives, osteopaths, or acupuncturists who were able to identify the cause of my chronic pain or provide any kind of relief or cure. 

5: The number of times more money that is spent on erectile dysfunction research compared to research on premenstrual syndrome.

19: The percent of men affected by erectile dysfunction.

90: The percent of women affected by premenstrual syndrome.

3: The number of times I got misinformation from my work about how much time I would be getting off or how much I would be getting paid. 

0: The number of weeks of paid maternity leave I got. 

29: The average weeks of paid maternity leave worldwide.

120: The number of countries that mandate paid maternity leave

3: The number of industrialized countries with no paid maternity leave, including the US. 

1: The number of white male senators from West Virginia that single-handedly blocked millions of parents from receiving paid parental leave and a child tax credit, astronomically increasing the social, emotional, and financial burden of parenthood. Thanks, Joe Manchin.