The office’s moo moo room.

If there is one novelty for me when I headed back to work after almost 5 months (with the hospitalization leave prior and annual leave after my maternity leave), it is the excitement of checking out the nursing room in the office.

The whole experience is very exciting, as well as daunting.. Not really knowing what to expect. And sure enough, my first day of using the room threw me off a little, because of my own carelessness.. I forgot to bring quite a few essentials – container/ziplock bags to identify my milk bottles (mark them as mine), ice-pack to cool them for transportation home, and the cooler bag! I stood in the room for 5 mins and wondered what to do. Guess I’m too used to the convenience of being home the past months and having a dedicated fridge compartment for my milk bottles.

If you really had to know, I poured all the milk into the milk bags and decided to freeze them instead. Thankfully, I bought milk bags with me to use.

I kind really like the nursing room at work, because it’s quiet (a room dedicated for nursing) and it’s located along a corridor where there aren’t many cubicles near it, which kind of makes it a little discreet for the nursing mothers.

And so, I took a few pictures to show and tell!! Ok. I also wondered if my male colleagues (and single, female colleagues) are curious about this part of the office where they would never get to see, ever. The room requires an access card key and are only distributed to nursing mothers. So, if you are curious (I wonder why), this is it!

This is how it looks from the door, with 4 cubicles within, fitted with curtains for privacy. I love the lovely striped wallpaper along the walls. Makes it look cheery!

Each cubicle comes with a sofa that’s big enough to house 2 persons sitting side by side (though there is really no need for it) so comfort is definitely one of the plus factors here. Complete with a ledge for the nursing equipment, I thought the design was well thought through and perfect. There are 2 electrical outlets in each cube and it’s perfect because you can power up your pump and charge your laptop/handphone while at it. the ledge is also big enough for you to convert it into a temporary workspace for work but I find it too cumbersome and unproductive doing so. Each cubicle is also individually lit with a small lamp so one can have to option of having softer lights instead of the bright main ceiling lightings (see picture below).

Cozy feel when the main lights are off. It’s good for a quick shut-eye or some peace to unwind before battling the work battles.

View from door with the softer lightings.

The room also comes with a fridge (to store the milk), cupboards for nursing mothers to store their bottles/equipment, a sink for washing up, and a hot water dispenser for sterilizing the bottles/equipment if needed. And of cos, the mirror to let you check for wardrobe mishaps before stepping back into the corporate office for mind boggling work.

In the past 2 weeks, I have yet to meet any nursing mothers face to face yet (they are behind the curtains mostly) and there hasn’t been any issue with the room being overcrowded or no cubes available for usage, which is great cos it makes planning your work/meetings and nursing sessions easier.

The one other feature that I really think was great is that the room actually has soft music piped in, and I think that’s really the key to relaxation and calming you down for the errm .. Milk business. Being relaxed helps! It’s barely noticeable but it just removes the hectic feel of work off for me and transport me into a zen-like spa sesh environment.

Well, despite it being nice, clean and all the good stuff that I said about above, I did have a grouse though. There are no paper towels available for drying our hands after all that washing! Someone should install one of those paper towel dispensers found in the toilets here. Heh. I wonder if it was omitted because it’s part of the company’s kpi to limit paper usage and recycle x amt of paper each year.. Afterall, we are such a green company! (pun intended)

Anyway, I am so hard to please right? I guess, this is by far one of the nicest nursing room I have been to.. The other being the one at suntec city mall. The rest were just..meh.

So, where is your favorite nursing rooms? Tell me! Would love to go check them out if I get the chance. Truth is, I haven’t been to many yet.. Paragon, suntec, takashimaya, Liang court, northpoint, marina bay sands (I consider that more of a changing room instead!)..

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