BREASTFEEDING
Breast is best Is it possible to work on an event site and breastfeed your baby at the same time? Chrissie Gilbert, a live events freelancer, shares her experiences of working with LS Events, Method and Massive this summer, whilst breastfeeding her baby girl
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abour MP Stella Creasy’s recent appearance in the House of Commons with her three-month-old son in a sling, sparked a huge debate as to whether it is appropriate to take young children to work. The MP for Walthamstow faced a backlash for complaining about being censured by Parliamentary authorities for taking part in a Commons debate whilst holding Pip, her baby boy. Pip, who is breastfed, has regularly attended the Commons, as has Creasy’s daughter, Hettie, when she was a baby. The MP’s experience has raised questions about how businesses and organisations can support breastfeeding mothers who want to return to work. Furthermore, Creasy’s comments have received huge media attention, with many people commenting on the lack of family-friendly measures and facilities for new parents, a need for better parental rights, and whether babies should be allowed in workplaces.
RETURN TO WORK
This summer, the events industry faced huge resource issues; staff challenges are not expected to disappear in 2022. So, is there anything that the events industry can do to support flexible working and experienced events professionals that want to return to work after they have had a child, and in particular, breastfeeding mums? Chrissie Gilbert has worked in the live events industry for 17 years. In February, Gilbert gave birth prematurely to Marlow, a baby girl, who is combination fed [meaning she takes breast milk, expressed breast milk (EBM) in a bottle and formula from a bottle].
But has breastfeeding stopped Gilbert from returning to festival sites? In a word, no. Since August, Gilbert has been facilitated by LS Events, Method, LFX Events, and Massive, which have worked with Gilbert to support her return to work on festival sites. Gilbert explained: “My daughter Marlow was born in February. She was seven weeks early. Marlow had a short stay in the newborn intensive care unit and then we both spent a month in hospital together. She was born before she had the suck, swallow, breath reflex needed for breastfeeding so needed to be NG (nasogastric) tube fed for 24 days whilst I recovered, and she learned how to breastfeed! There was a lot of emphasis put on the importance of breastfeeding Marlow, as she was premature, so it became something I was keen to do to help her.” Gilbert knew she wanted to return to work. Equally, she knew she would have to express [pump] milk whilst on an event site. She continued: “Pumping/expressing breast milk isn’t as easy as turning on a tap. You must be in the right head space, milk production is all linked to hormones, feeling happy and safe. In hospital I was advised to find a nice warm, comfy space, have photos of my baby and videos to watch whilst I pumped.”
REASONABLE ADJUSTMENTS
Gilbert is an experienced events professional, with a background in touring and site/event management. This year, however, all Gilbert’s roles saw her taking positions within event control rooms as event controller/manager; roles which fitted her needs perfectly as a new mum. So, how did organisers and production companies
BABY MARLOW ON SITE
CHRISSIE GILBERT, MARLOW AND ASH WHITEHEAD react to Gilbert’s request for a safe and comfortable space that would allow her to breastfeed Marlow? “This is the first time we’ve had the opportunity to support a mum on site in this way,” commented Steve Reynolds, operations director at LS Events. “We have great people working for us and it’s important that whether they are working for us on a permanent, fixed-term or freelancer contract they are comfortable to have families. We want to ensure we retain the amazing people in this industry so it’s important we make reasonable adjustments to support our team.”
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