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left the practice because of child care issues, however, the house was con- verted to a fully staffed and licensed day care instead. “As all parents know, child care is not cheap,” says Melinda Wiggins, Broad Ripple Animal Wellness Center’s direc- tor of client service and loyalty. “After I had my first child, I came back part-time. When I gave birth to my second, paying for child care for two kids just wasn’t fea- sible. I had to quit my job, but now that there’s affordable day care here, I was able to come back and work full-time.”
$1.50 per hour for child care Wiggins had been paying $40 a day for
With unprecedented numbers of women entering the veterinary work force, almost all practices are looking for ways to balance their needs with those of their new moms returning after giving birth.
day care. The cost at Broad Ripple Ani- mal Wellness Center is $1.50 per hour. Practice Manager Brenda Tassava, CVPM, says the hospital’s out-of-pocket costs to operate the facility are roughly $22,000 per year.
“Considering it can cost up to $50,000
to turn over a single employee, I think it’s a great investment for us,” she says. Jack is among 14 children currently taking advantage of the facility. “I actually found out I was pregnant about a month after we announced the day care,” explains Heinz. “Since my husband and I don’t have family in India- napolis, Jack would’ve been in day care full-time. For newborns, that can be ridic- ulously expensive. “Having day care here took the stress
off everything. It was a no-brainer that I was coming back full-time.” Having on-site care also took the hassle and worry out of breastfeeding, Heinz says. “I just take a break, walk next door, feed him and then go back to work.” Unfortunately, most new working moms do not have that luxury. “One of the greatest challenges is
breastfeeding,” says Melanie Mielke, DVM, at Parkway Veterinary Hospital in Lake Oswego, Ore. Mielke was passionate about wanting
to nurse her first child, Ruby. Because she does not have access to a private space,
she improvised a curtain for her cubicle. While pumping, she continued to work, making phone calls and writing up charts. “Sometimes you feel guilty about pumping breaks,” Mielke says. “You’ll be penciled out for an hour when the other doctors aren’t. I’ve always said if there’s anything you guys need, let me know. You can bring a patient to me, or I can stop and come out there. They’ve pretty much let me be. They’ve been very supportive.” “Breastfeeding is one of the most important things for a baby’s health and well-being,” says Elizabeth Rawson, DVM, DACVS, of Coral Springs Animal Hospital in Coral Springs, Fla. “It’s one of the hardest, hardest things about coming back to work and having to deal with the pumping, the time issues, the comfort issues and everything else.” Rawson and her husband, Shayne
Gardner, CVT, the hospital’s practice manager, are proud parents of a 2-year- old boy and 5-month-old girl. “I have a pump that I have to use multiple times throughout the day, and I have to manipulate my schedule so I have those times free. It can be a big pain to block out those times,” she says. “I’m a surgeon, and sometimes you’re in sur- gery and unable to get out for a period of time, and it can be quite uncomfort- able. My nurses know that I can get very grumpy if I don’t get to pump for some reason.” Yet, even during a crisis, these new moms have proven to be resourceful when dealing with breastfeeding issues. Lindsay Meyers, technical services manager and veterinary technician at Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital in Windham, N.H., was called to assist an emergency surgery at the end of a long day. “It was one of the craziest afternoons.
I’d just recovered from mastitis and was feeling miserable,” she recalls. “We were anesthetizing a dog, and I couldn’t stop to pump, so one of my coworkers started giving me ice packs to put up my shirt. I laugh about it now, but looking back, it
Trends magazine, September 2011
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