Let's not forget that those mothers who feel a "need " for pumps are not
stupid.  They have rightly decided to breastfeed their children, sifting the
facts from the prevalent misinformation and false advertising so prevalent in
Western society.

Further, they have *correctly*assessed that they will likely need extra help
in the breastfeeding process, given the lack  of good information and/or
skilled assistance surrounding them.

In other words, they have correctly identified the problem, and are
attempting to  fix it as best they can figure out.

Let's face it---what the many breastfeeding dyads need to get started is
someone to sit with them, sometimes for several hours at a time as they go
through the process of learning how to feed their infants.  This person
should be skilled in the mechanics of breastfeeding and have a basic
understanding of normal infant behavoir, be encouraging, supportive , and a
good listener. What most get, instead,(in the US) is an assesssment bya floor
nurse, who may or may not be skilled in helping moms breastfeed, maybe a
15-30 minute visit from a usually very overworked  hospital LC, who really
can give that time only to the more complex cases, and a visit to the
pediatrician when the baby is 2 weeks old. And frankly, given our
bottlefeeding, breastfeeding hostile culture, that's just not enough help for
a great many families.

So, yes, a mom who wants to give her baby the benefits of breastfeeding, but
is sure she doesn't know the first thing about breastfeeding, and from what
she can tell, not many others do either---this mom is easily persuaded that
she needs a breastpump.  She knows that she's sure as heck gonna need
*something*more than the help that's available.

This is *not* meant as a slam to anyone working with breastfeeding moms.
It's just that the skilled and knowledgable among us are spread pretty thin,
given the size of the need.  I think we do better to acknowledge the
intelligent perceptions underlying a mom's anxiety about breastfeeding, and
her valiant attempts to find a solution to her difficulties.

I have more to say about the role a pump plays in the issues of
attachment/detachment in mothering, but will save that for a different
missive.

Karen Kavesh in Philadelphia, recovering from stomach flu but thrilled by the
sunny weather for my 5year old's birthday party.

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html