I'm mostly thinking out loud here, which I know can set me up for  
flames but here goes...

1. I think we need to make sure we are outraged for the correct  
reason and NOT because Medela/BRU are
cutting into our income.  I know that makes some of us very unhappy/ 
nervous/worried but it is not really
the reason to "boycott" this situation.  It is totally OK for Medela  
to be promoting their own business in this
manner whether it is ethical or not to the LC's it purports to  
support is another question.

2. How is this really different than selling these pumps / products  
in the stores?  There is no follow up support/info on use
/recommendation to local support when a product is sold vs rented.   
Outrage should have started a long time
ago when this occurred.  Perhaps it did but of course any company has  
the right to promote it's product wherever
it deems necessary to increase it's profits... that is free  
enterprise...did we somewhere along the line forget that Medela is a  
business? And how did we let ourselves become so dependent on them  
(of course they make very useful quality products (mostly) is how and  
so we need them to do our job well....some of the time)?

3.  Maybe we also need to ask ourselves more about our profession.   
Are we in it to make $$$ or to help babies receive
breastmilk as the optimal food for the health of an individual?  Sure  
it's nice if the two exist together but is there a
priority of one over the other.  Maybe a good handful of us would not  
be able to do this if it were strictly on a volunteer basis.  And of  
course then the value of our profession is questioned as well and  
with it our self esteem perhaps, as getting paid for what you know is  
how you may be valued on a social ladder.  But I was/am a LLL Leader  
long before I was
an LC and getting paid for what I know is somewhat of a side benefit  
albeit a very good side benefit, LOL.  I didn't get
"paid"(monetarily) for 13yrs before WIC employed me as an LC... it  
felt so good to be valued that way after being a volunteer for so  
long...and nice that I could do something I was GOOD at AND help  
support my family too.  BUT that is not
really why I'm an LC.  It all goes back to KNOWING that breastmilk is  
what babies need and helping mothers meet the needs of their babies  
in this manner changes the lives of that family forever.

4.  I do think there is a relatively easy fix here.  No not with a  
boycott but that may be what some of us choose to do.
I think that local BRU would be delighted to be removed of the  
responsibility of dealing with pump questions if only they
had a resource to provide.  I'm sure they can not show preference so  
to provide a list of local LLL Leaders and LC's that
would be willing to handle questions/concerns seems appropriate and  
will most likely be welcomed.  Our state produces an excellent  
"Breastfeeding Resource Guide" and distributes widely with numbers of  
LC's, LLLL's, NMC's. etc. that could be given to each BRU with  
instructions for the employee to use it as a referral guide.  She  
might even read some of it in her spare time!  Am I naive? Maybe.

5.  I really am AMAZED at the number of us who depend so much on a  
pump as to have to carry it on subways.  Are they carried to ALL  
appts?Could the need for that not be ruled out with a good phone call  
to assertain need first?  Wow, bruised
shins!!!

Ilene Fabisch, IBCLC/RLC, LLLL
Clinical Director Mothers' Milk Bank of New England
[log in to unmask]
www.milkbankne.org
781-535-7594



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