Does anyone care that just any old breast pump is not a good thing? Who wins here? I will tell you. The formula companies. Years ago, the Ross company gave away breast pumps in their marketing. They were the worst pumps I have ever seen. They were cheap and didn't work. But the good thing was, if a mom used them, her supply would drop and she would know that Similac is a great brand because they gave her a free pump! Hmmm. Today, we have the Gerber (Nestle) company giving away free storage bottles to the hospitals for NICU. They are SO wonderful. They only hold 2 ounces (but not if mom is pumping directly, only one ounce then) and the great thing is they say right on the package "for use to store breast milk or Good Start formula". And even better, it says Gerber in big letters embedded in the storage bottle. Now Similac also has storage bottles - they just forgot to write Similac all over them so they aren't good marketing. Anybody want to buy a Trojan horse?
-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rachel Myr
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 7:54 AM
Subject: Breast pump industry booming
Well, it's not just Obamacare, because it is booming here too.
At the moment I am more offended than usual at Medela, because they have a sales rep here in Norway who is very, um, 'energetic'. She does not respect rules about contact between hospital staff and sales reps (we have rules that protect us from having to deal with them).
She passes herself off as a kind of colleague/ally in the Good Fight for mothers and babies, while presenting extremely biased information about the Symphony pump when she gains access to staff at what many of them perceive as educational sessions on work time. Because it is fairly new here for nursing and midwifery staff to be targeted by salespeople, there is a knowledge gap on the ground level in most hospitals about what the rules are, and many suppliers of medical equipment exploit this, I am told. I have only seen Medela in action on my patch.
She tells each hospital that all the other hospitals are very pleased with the Symphony, and in our case, she told the hospital pharmacy that they had to start stocking the Harmony pump (sold with a Calma bottle, excuse me, I mean 'breastmilk delivery system', included in the package) because the maternity ward was adopting the Symphony pump and recommended the Harmony to mothers. All this was something she made up on the spot. We tried out the Symphony for a couple of weeks, and returned it. We have never even SEEN the Harmony, and certainly have not recommended it, or any other particular personal pump, for mothers.
Avent have had the largest market share for years, and they certainly have their own sleazy marketing strategies, but nothing tops this latest surge from Medela. Avent have never tried to gain access to me on my work time, I'll give them that much.
For the record, our fleet of Sister Maja Breastpumps are still going strong, after nearly six decades of impeccable service. And the mothers we care for who start hand expression on day one if baby is uninterested or unable to latch, are expressing *buckets* by day three or four when they meet Sister Maja.
Pumps are not evil, and I know as well as anyone how useful they can be when babies are unable to feed at the breast, be it due to medical conditions in the baby or work conditions for the mother. Marketing of pumps is often insidious and rarely a sober presentation of the facts. I would love it if the same ground rules as the ones in the WHO Code for breastmilk substitutes, could be applied with the force of law behind them to limit the offenses now being committed.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway
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