If you've taken even one prenatal class or read one baby magazine while pregnant, you're well aware that "breast is best."

Breast-feeding is, by far, the healthiest way to nourish a baby... so say the experts, from the American Academy of Pediatrics to every baby book out there.

But what happens when a breast-feeding mother returns to work? What was once the most natural thing in the world now becomes a challenge.

"Working does not have to mean weaning," says Karen McGratty, a Brooklyn mom who should know.

McGratty works full time in the legal department of a bank in Manhattan. She returned to work when her daughter was 4 months old, but managed to exclusively breast-feed the baby through infancy.

What made this possible, she says, was a supportive employer, as well as a supportive husband and an excellent child-care provider... McGratty's own mother.

McGratty also sought help from the Bay Ridge chapter of La Leche League, an international breast-feeding advocacy organization, and soon became an active leader herself. The league encourages breast-feeding for the benefit of baby, mother and the environment.

McGratty says she dreaded her first day back at work, "but in New York, it takes two incomes to get by, so quitting my job was not an option."

Once McGratty became comfortable with using an electric breast pump, and her baby became accustomed to a bottle, she was able to get into a routine at work... pumping and storing her milk while separated from the baby, who would drink it from a bottle the next day.

Support system

(PHOTO: STEVE SCHOLFIELD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Theresa Warner, who runs Family Chiropractic, Point Pleasant, decided she would nurse her son Skylar (left), 11 months, at work. Warner is also pictured with her daughter Sydney, 3.

(PHOTO: STEVE SCHOLFIELD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jennifer Smith, Point Pleasant, has chosen to breast-feed her son Kevin (left), 4 months. Smith, also pictured with her daughter Holly, 2, is a single working parent.

McGratty's workplace is ultrafriendly to breast-feeding moms... her own boss recently had twins and also pumps at work.

Camaraderie is key.

"Have a plan and have a great support team," says Theresa Warner, a Point Pleasant mother who works and breast-feeds. "Be surrounded by like-minded people. Have a La Leche League group you can turn to, or form a support team at work."

Warner has a 3-year-old daughter and an 11-month-old son, and is still nursing both of them.

"With my daughter, it's just down to before nap and bedtime... it's more comfort for her than anything else," she says. "They're 27 months apart, so doing it this way has meant

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