I doubt that there is a population that pumps more than in the United States.  Remember we have abysmal maternity leave.  I'm sure if you look at the amount of breast milk directly fed to babies versus the amount of pumped into bottles, there would be shocking off the charts differences between Australia and the United States.

Furthermore, many American women are extremely squeamish about handling their own breasts.

So, could the differences in observations about pump use be due to the greater reliance on pumps and less massage while pumping?  We know that massage and hand expression is extremely important for milk yield.  Could part of the difference be due to wear and tear on the pumps?  If you go back to work when your baby is six months old versus when your baby is two weeks or six weeks old as I often see in Manhattan -- you are much more likely to see those motors conk out.  When women are pumping for a year or more, I think there is a big difference than when women are pumping only ocassionally or when their infants are already taking solids.  

The United States is all about productivity -- and I suppose that forces women into looking at their breastmilk production the way large dairy farmers look at increasing yields from their livestock.  It is a sad way of approaching motherhood.

Here, I definitely see differences in milk yield in response to various pumps -- and at different stages of lactation.  So, I think there may very well be population differences whereby the efficiency of the pump sadly has to be considered in some areas of the world.

Best regards, 
Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

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