Pat:  I've emailed privately with others about this, but I must
respectfully publicly disagree about pumped milk being the same as straight
from the breast.  Honestly, we just don't know from a research perspective
HOW IT IS THAT BABIES COMMUNICATE THEIR DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL,
IMMUNIOLOGICAL, and other needs to the breast; but we do know that
breastmilk changes based upon these needs.  It is not simply a matter of
the frequency of pumping or at-breast feeding, there are believed to be
on-site receptors at the breast that send messages to the pituitary gland
in the mom.  When babies go through growth spurts (the simplest example)
they not only increase their time and frequency at the breast, but they
actually change their pattern of suckling.  IMNHO, no pump could EVER
simulate or even anticipate the needs that the baby-breast complex achieves
virtually effortlessly (after those first weeks and barring the beasty
yeasties).

As always, I enjoy your posts and find them stimulating.
Chris

 Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC   email: [log in to unmask]
                HSR & Health Educational Consultant

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