To follow up on Barbara Wilson-Clay's comment that pumping is "really
boring..."

I point out that bottle feeding with pumped milk is twice as much work.
Someone has to feed the milk to the baby---and that's probably Mother most of
the time.  But on top of that she also has to take care of her breasts.

When the baby takes milk directly from the breasts, mother is "feeding" the
baby and the baby is "taking care of her breasts."  So they are both working,
that is, expending energy to accomplish a result.  I once suggested to Kathy
Auerbach that we should encourage a mother to consider that what her baby
does at the breast has value.  She would pay mega-$$ to get a pump that would
accomplish the same results.  And if you consider what she would have to pay
to get mothers' milk from a milk bank for her baby, that baby is REALLY
adding value to the family budget by nursing!

Of course, I also tell them about the three moms I had who pumped a year each
and maintained a full supply on 3-4 pumpings per day, once the milk supply
was well established.

Chris Mulford
Swarthmore, PA  USA
(thinking more about breastfeeding as "work" now that our book on the topic
is finished)

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