OK I reviewed most of the threads relating to this subject and didn't see anything I would call snarkiness, unless my comment, which was:
"We can probably expect to see more of this since pumping is the new breastfeeding."

Follow up details do seem to confirm that this is a situation in which a mother is making an informed choice to have pumped enough milk to cover a week ahead for her 6 month old, and then she plans to pump for a week while on vacation, without the baby.

All possible in the world of pretty good electric breast pumps.

My post and my concern is for babies, and maybe I am being a bit old fashioned, but I think a baby's need for his mother's presence is as intense as his need for food.  And there are precious few places where a mother can hear this message.

So while I work every day helping mothers get set up with pumps so they can return to work, I feel saddness for the mother AND the baby, not judgement.  And I am grateful there are pretty good breast pumps for these moms.

My observation, after over thirty years, is that breast pumps have moved from the catagory of "necessary for unavoidable mother baby seperations and medical situations" to "necessary for every mother."   But, it has gone one step further, from what I am noticing.  I am continually hearing "I'm worried about my supply" and, in the next breath, something about "my stash."

I hear, regularly, women say they have a freezer FULL of pumped milk, and these are not mothers who were pumping for premies.  This is a change, and it seems to show a focus shift from the Baby to The Pump.   

For years, I, and I'm sure most of you, have told mothers that they only need to pump 1-2 ounces a day, starting about two weeks before they return to work, so they have one or two day's supply (ie: 7-14 ounces) "stashed" ahead of time.   

I think the focus on pumping also creates these inevitable worries about "my supply" since mothers who simply nurse on demand are not visably seeing the ounces daily as they may dance up and down a bit.   

NONE of this has anything at all to do, really, with various struggles mothers have in which a pump is the only way to make breastfeeding the baby work out, or to accommodate things like clefts and so on.  We here KNOW how hard those moms work in order to do what is best for their babies and we are the last ones to judge.

Finally, lest anyone think otherwise, I place most of the blame for this situation on marketing.  Still, we are in a position to help mothers understand the importance of their presence to their little ones, as well as their milk.  I hope we can try to stem this tide of pump mania, for the sake of the babies.   I'm sad for the baby who's mom is going on vacation without him, but I'm certainly glad she is open to continuing to nurse him when she returns.  And we all know that's not a sure thing.

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