Hi all,

Kim Williams posted earlier today:

>The only nurse on our floor who didn't like it happens to rent the
>M___pumps.  So..I wonder if maybe GREED has slipped into our
>wonderful little field.  Sorry if I'm stepping on toes, but if we don't police
>ourselves..someone else will.

I have to agree that it is important that we "police ourselves" as a
profession. That includes examining our motives behind decisions we make,
such as  decisions on which pumps to recommend to mothers.

One woman's pump may be another woman's torture instrument. And what doesn't
work for one mom may work wonderfully for the next. I'm personally convinced
that there are moms who would give copius amounts of milk to a vacuum
cleaner--regardless of whether it was turned on!

And one LC's experience with a pump may be drastically different from
another's experience. HOWEVER, to suggest that because one LC has a
different assessment of a pump than another that it is out of GREED is a
giant leap to a divisive conclusion.

Karen's original post about this pump was based on the observations of a
group of LCs studying the pump: how to put it together, and how it worked
for at least one mom. I might also add that Karen Zeretzke has VOLUNTEERED
her time working with bf moms for YEARS now, in addition to the work she
does as an LC. Yes, she rents pumps--I suspect that a large percentage of us
here on Lactnet do--but to suggest that she does so out of greed is totally
inappropriate.

The irony of this situation is that the pump in question comes from an ABM
company.... That, in and of itself, shouldn't be the sole criteria for
putting down a pump, but it is reasonable to look at the pump--and the ABM's
motives for making it--with a bit of skepticism.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, as is Karen and all the other
1200 folks here on Lactnet. Accusing someone you don't even know of having
alternative motives--publicly, no less--is inappropriate, IMHO.

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
[log in to unmask]