Jennifer and Winnie make some good points about pumps.

Regarding reinforcing the idea pumps are "needed", I suppose that is a byproduct of distributing them that way. If I had to pick one item that I think is a good item for a nursing mom to have, a good hand operated breastpump would be it. All these nursing shirts, nursing bras, nursing pillows are really frilly extras. I think pumps are not so foreign to my patients or me because so many of my moms go back to work and are planning to pump - probably 70%. Unfortunately, they also plan to use those awful discount store pumps to pump with so its often good for them to have a decent hand pump to compare with. All in all I'd say 80 or 90% of those pumps get used sometime in the first 6 months.


In terms of who "pays" for the pump, it is true that the hospital will "eat" the cost on some, and we in turn will pay more on our insurance, etc. It's a difficult balance for many hospitals - these are difficult times. I guess being a doc affects my thinking here.
My first concern is the wellbeing of my patient - costs aside. I've fought with insurance companies and pestered drug reps for samples for my patients. I've seen patients that my practice will never be reimbersed for seeing. I really do feel it's in my patient's best interest to go home with a pump - because I've seen what happens (that didn't need to) when they don't. In the long run, I think the health care costs saved by maintaining the breastfeeding outweigh the initial costs of the pumps.

Thanks for all the great responses.
Gail S. Hertz, MD, IBCLC
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