I'm a single psychiatrist and am to getting pregnant (IVF) in 2 weeks. I primarily work as a psychotherapist (45 min sessions) and want to breast feed. How do I schedule clients?
Also - comments on how this will affect clients in therapy affect clients in therapy = helpful (They won't know until I start to show).

Good luck getting pregnant. I am currently breastfeeding my 9 month old. It is a major hassle, but you can do it. The key is to try to pump as much as the baby feeds, so it varies a bit as the baby gets older. When you first go back to work, you need to pump about every 3 hours. It takes about 15 mins to pump (I pump for about 10 mins with the hospital-grade pump, and it takes 5 mins messing with clothes, bottles, etc.) Buy yourself a little refrigerator for your office so you do not have to wash pump cones and your milk stays cold no hassle. But first, good luck having the baby, then this will all become more real. Scheduling an extra 15 mins before a next session should be pretty easy for you, just time-consuming.

HI - I just wanted to reply about the client scheduling. I never had an easy time pumping, even with the best hospital grade pump and double-pumping, and it took close to half an hour at a time. So in terms of scheduling patients, maybe you should wait and see how it goes with pumping before you do the scheduling (you can pump a couple of times in the first few weeks after the baby is born to see how long it takes you, and plan on that). Another alternative (which is what I did some months) is to take a 45 minute break mid-morning and another 45-minute break mid-afternoon (no lunch). That way you have plenty of time to pump and didn't feel rushed. For some women, stress inhibits let-down, so you don't want to feel like you have to beat the clock!

A few random tips - my insurance paid for rental of a top-of-the-line hospital grade pump (over $700 to purchase) and all I paid for was the single-user parts kit, about $45. All they required was a script from my baby's pediatrician that stated it was good for the baby's health or something along those lines. Also, you can buy a great-looking black faux-leather shoulder bag by Medela at Babies R Us that has a compartment for the pump and it's parts, as well as an insulated section for the milk, for around $40.

Maybe others have some more advice?

As a current pumper myself, I agree with the above two postings. I spent a good deal of time worrying, and although I can't deny that it has been tough for me, I also can say that the anticipatory worry is always worse that the real thing. When it comes down to it, if you want to pump, you will work it out. Even if the scheduling is not perfect. It's a bit trial-by-fire, and it's true that it's hard to know quite how long it will take you until you're in the situation (e.g. do you need extra time to run to a pumping room with a hopital grade pump, or will you be pumping in your own office with a slightly less powerful pump=no running to a destination, but maybe a bit more time spent pumping).
I used to be very worried about the 3-4-hour rule, but in all honesty, your body is flexible. Usually they say the max hours between pumpings should be 4 hours, but your milk supply doesn't deplete based on one day's worth of less frequent pumping. It is more dependent on what you've been doing over 2-3 days.
Pumping mid-morning and mid-afternoon often works great.