The concept of a heated jar to relieve engorgement and as a remedy for flat
nipples actually harkens back to the 1600s. Fildes quotes a medical writer
from the 1600s describing how a heated glass bottle can be used to draw out
flat nipples. In my chapter on breast pumps in Riordan and Auerbach, I
describe the juice jar breast pump that was written about in 1977 in a
publication called the Keeping Abreast Journal. Rees (1977) instructed
mothers to fill  a 1.5 quart glass jar with hot water and then empty it. The
breast is then inserted into the jar's opening and a cool wash cloth is
rubbed around the outside of the jar. As the hot air in the jar cools, it
creates a gentle vacuum on the breast.

An interesting alternative to batteries and electricity, and something to use
in an "emergency" if the mother has no pump on hand and is having difficulty
hand expressing.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, Massachusetts

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