(Aside to Karen Palmer - That's obsessive-compulsive disorder)
When I hear of mothers who are compulsively pumping, unless they seem very very
fragile emotionally I just ask casually 'Oh, so in case you die, the baby will
still get your milk for the next couple of months?'
Their eyes widen and they think about it.  Don't know if they pump any less, but
maybe.  It's a bit brutal but sometimes the brutal approach is the right one.
I rarely meet a woman who hasn't gotten herself at least a hand-operated
personal pump by the time she gives birth.  The higher price range electric
pumps have, thankfully, not been perceived as necessary for mothers of healthy
babies, since the mother is likely to be home for most of the first year
anyway.  But there is this pumping neurosis anyway.  It seems to me to be
improving, actually.  The manual pumps get used when mother wants to go out for
an evening with her friends - not to take along, but to express beforehand so
she can leave milk for the baby.
Since we have been working toward being evaluated for baby-friendliness in
February, we have emphasized that all mothers should be shown manual
expression, and I mentioned earlier this fall how 59 staff members had attended
the inservice in which they had the opportunity to practice manual expression
with experienced guidance.  I see lots more mothers who have been shown how to
do it, and the staff are getting MUCH more confident in their ability to teach
this skill to mothers.  They are also impressed with the amount of colostrum
mothers are able to express manually, compared to the miserly drops a pump can
get.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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