I carry a scale, and in the trunk keep a box with SNS, a few Haberman feeders, and a lot of nipple shields. I have non-latex, non-powder gloves and periodontal syringes in my bag, and some freq. used hand-outs on my clip board. I actually find that carrying my copy of The Breastfeeding Atlas helps me teach positioning and latch, and it often reassures moms to see a picture of someone else with their problem. That's about it. I don't carry gv or APNO, but direct moms to store to obtain. I don't feel comfortable applying it as I am not an RN or MD. Not having an office anymore has really made me realize that most of the "equipment" I need is in my head and my hands. I realize that renting and selling pumps has traditionally been the way most LCs (including me) have supported their work of counseling mothers. I've had some concerns for years about our profession linking itself too closely to retail. Unless the retail is the part one especially enjoys, I think it places our emphasis in the wrong direction, and doesn't entirely look professional. Plus I've come to believe it's stratigically a bad idea in terms of business planning, because the pump companies have more concern with their own bottom line than with the fate of our businesses. With the advent of the Pump in Style and Purely Yours, the rental business went sour, and now those pumps are going into discount stores. So the LCs who have depended upon those sources of income are facing losses. While it is nice for working mothers to access that equipment directly, it is a problem when the mother needs a clinical grade pump and thinks one of the commercial ones will do the same thing. Plus, they get shared all over the place. There are prob. 2-3 users for most of the Pump in Styles I encounter in people's homes. Women share them with neighbors, co-workers, and family members, and that problem can only get worse when the pumps become widely available in more stores with no counseling provided on their use. I had a mom two weeks ago who bought a PNS over the internet and her husband had the tubing plugged in on the wrong ends (he had the LOOSE ends of the tubing jammed into the holes in the back of the breast shield!) There was virtually no suction even on high, and she had been using it to try to manage engorgement and get milk to feed a 37 weeker who was so scrawny by the time I got there it was scary! He was a lawyer -- hardly an idiot. They just didn't know the difference. Consequently, unless the LC lives someplace where there are no retail outlets that currently supply slings, pillows, etc, I think we are smarter to emphasize the service and consulting aspects of what we do. It's ultimately the niche we could really control, and that's where I've chosen to stake my claim. Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC Austin Lactation Associates http://www.lactnews.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html