Hello, All:  I think this has been discussed before.  Wet tubing has been called 
to Medela's attention.  When I mentioned my concerns to the area Medela rep 
I was told that Medela did not perceive this as a problem.  All a mom had to do 
was soak the tubing in bleach and to dry it, just whip it around. And when all 
else fails, she can just buy new tubing!  I have had far too many moms asking 
me if the "black stuff" in their tubing is a problem. Moms tell me that Medela 
assures them that it's not really a problem and not to worry about it.  It seems 
to me that the problem of condensation and milk in tubing began when Medela 
reconfigured the design of the flange.  They moved the tube insertion hole 
from the top of the flange to the bottom a number of years ago - I began 
seeing the problem of wet tubing not long after this change.
I am a hospital-based lactation consultant.  My worst nightmare is that we 
trace an outbreak of XYZ infection in our SCN to moldy breast pump tubing! 
Thank God this has never happened in my 25+ years of hospital-based 
practice! 
With the recent publicity MRSA is getting in the media here in the US (the lead 
story on the TODAY show this morning was on how MRSA now kills more 
people each year in the US than AIDS), it would behoove all of us to pay a lot 
more attention to the "infection control" issues that wet tubing is raising.


Pam Hirsch, BSN,RN,IBCLC
Clinical Lead, Lactation Seervices
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
Barrington, IL   USA

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