Hi! I am a hospital based IBCLC.  I agree that too many mothers want to pump for the reason's you listed.  When this comes up I try to explain why breastfeeding is best for stimulation and supply and all of the other good reasons why breastfeeding is better than pumping!.  The issues I see in the hospital are babies that do not latch well or not at all and therefore a pump provides better stimulation. I know many of our latch issues are from labor interventions, ect... I used to "wait and see" before starting the moms pumping, but then it seems we have more supply issues. Also now that we are going to basically stop using nipple shields at our hospital, we may have to do more pumping!  I don't see as much of the moms wanting to pump versus moms needing to pump due to breastfeeding issues.  Believe me, I would much prefer a great latching baby over a pump. Oh yes, and we do lots of skin-to-skin at our hospital and planning to do more education in that area! 

Christine Lichte, BS, IBCLC

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