Dear Ellen,
       *Thank you* so very much for getting into words what I have been
feeling but could not manage to express.  There is no shame in making money.  There
is not a one of us who could survive if someone (ourselves or
spouse/significant other) in the family were not making money.  And if we work for ourselves,
we still need to make money.  I could not keep my business open if it were
not for the income generated by rental pumps and retail sales.  But I have
always felt I did my clients a wonderful service by showing them how to put their
pump together, giving them advice on how to use a product, etc.  When I have an
overwhelmed mother in my office for a consult, I don't *want* to send her
somewhere else on the way home to get a tube nursing system, a nipple shield,
breast shells or whatever else she may need to get her breastfeeding going
better.  She may be tired, in pain, not familiar with my town (I draw clients from a
very wide geographic area), etc.  I feel I do her more of a service by having
the products available.  And I know that if I referred her elsewhere, no one
in any of those places would give her any information about how to use what
they sell.  I try always to give the mother options and to explain the pros and
cons of any particular devise, herb, etc. When I am looking at doing, buying,
using something for myself or my family, I always prefer to talk to someone
who actually has familiarity with the product rather than just make a decision
based on what I could find to read in a book, magazine, online, etc.  In
breastfeeding, I am that person with the familiarity for the mothers who are looking
for some type of help.  I have often told a mother I didn't think she needed
a particular product she had called about.  Often, I can give her an option
that costs no money or is considerably cheaper than what she called about
originally.  But sometimes the best thing for her situation is the more expensive
product.  As long as I feel in my heart that I am suggesting the option best
suited to her situation, and I explain why I think that but also give her other
options, I feel that I am behaving ethically.  And I have every right to charge
a competitive rate for that rental or sale.
       Dee

Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA

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